Rampage: Alternate Ending
by dr-corday-er
Summary: An alternate ending to the season seven finale episode, Rampage. What could have happened if Derek Fossen (the deranged gunman) hadn't been caught when he had?
1. Rampage Alternate Ending

"Get someone over to my house NOW!" Mark yelled. "How could this guy possibly get her address?" He asked Kerry. "I don't know. He could of just remembered Adelle's name. She could be listed." Kerry guessed. Mark looked Adelle. There was a good possibility that she could not only be paralyzed from the waist down, but die. "Halea, give me the phone. Call my house for me." Mark commanded. Halea didn't hesitate to comply. Now that one of their own had been shot, she didn't want to think about who else the maniac would go after. She picked up the phone with a bloody glove and then realized she didn't know the number, "Dr. Greene, number?" "Oh, yeah. 235-4162." He automatically responded. "Here Dr.Greene. It's ringing." Halea held the phone up to his ear. The rings seemed to go forever, "Come on, Elizabeth. Pick up the phone." Mark waited until the message machine came on, and then motioned for Halea to hang up. "Damn. She didn't pick up." "Mark, she probably just went out for a while." Kerry comforted as she tried to save the poor woman's life. "I don't know, maybe you're right." Mark said. The policeman walked in and said, "No one answered the door, but the men I sent said they could hear a baby crying inside." The policeman trailed off for a minute, but then said, "Do you want them to force entry?"  
  
"Yes!" Mark yelled. Elizabeth always answers the door and never lets Ella cry. "Oh hell." Mark said out loud. Kerry exchanged looks with Halea and Lydia, and then said, "Mark, go ahead and leave. We'll get someone else. I'm sure everything is all right, but I don't think you need any added stress right now." Kerry offered. Mark thought about it for a second and then said, "Page someone else. I'll stay until they come." "Fine. Lydia, page Dr.Kovac." Kerry commanded. Before Lydia could do any thing, Romano barged in the doors in his usual way, except his face looked a bit more frantic. "What is going on? I heard Adelle Newman got shot." Romano stopped when he saw that the rumor had been true, "by that maniac." He finished when he regained himself. "You care to help?" Kerry asked. "Yes." Romano answered. Kerry looked up at Mark and said, "I think we've got it from here. Go ahead. Tell me if you hear any thing. Lydia, forget about paging Kovac." "Hear any thing about what?" Romano asked. Usually he didn't really care about the rumor mill, but so far today, everything that he had heard had been true. "Mark?" Kerry looked at him as if to ask "You wanna tell him?" "Go ahead. Not like it won't get out any way." Mark turned and walked out. Mark saw the policeman at the nearest phone to the trauma room. Mark waited very impatiently for him to get off the phone. When he did, Mark said, "Well?" The policeman was a bit surprised to see Mark, but quickly composed himself. "Dr.Greene, my men forced entry into your house. They searched the bottom floor and found the back door." The policeman stopped to think of a word. ".smashed." He finished. "Oh God." Mark said under his breath. He knew what was coming. He didn't want to think about it. He didn't want it confirmed; but he had to know. "They went upstairs and in the. nursery, I guess, they found Dr.Corday shot. They have an ambulance on it's way." The policeman said slowly. "Oh my God." Mark said again, "Is she okay? I mean is she conscious? Where was she shot?" "No, she's not conscious. She was shot in the abdomen twice." The policeman answered as he guided Mark over to a chair. Mark thought for a minute, then asked, "My baby, Ella, is she all right?" The policeman thought for a second and then said, "I don't know. Let me check." The policeman got back on the phone and spoke a few words. He listened for a few seconds, and then said, "Apparently, Dr.Corday was holding your daughter when she was shot. When she went down, she dropped the baby. As far as my men can tell, your daughter is fine, but then again, they aren't doctors or anything. They couldn't tell a cough apart from a broken neck." "Oh damn." Mark said to himself. "What's their ETA?" He asked. "Ten minutes." The policeman answered. Mark looked up to see Romano and a few nurses rolling Adelle Newman out of Trauma Two and towards the elevator. Mark got up and called, "Dr.Romano!" Romano turned his head to see Mark running toward him. "What?" "Is Anspaugh available to do Adelle's surgery? We. I need you down here for. an incoming trauma." Mark struggled to get out. "Yeah, but can't he just come down here?" Romano asked. He wanted to make sure that Anspaugh didn't screw this surgery up. "It's. the trauma is Elizabeth." Mark said. Tears welled up in his eyes. At that Romano stopped. "Elizabeth Corday? What." Romano started to ask. But then by the look on Mark's face he knew that is had been that Fossen guy. "Get Dr.Anspaugh to do this surgery." Romano instructed. Halea just nodded and kept going. Romano and Mark took off for the ambulance bay. Mark ran to the desk first. "Kerry!" "Mark? What is it?" She said upon seeing the distraught look on his face. "Elizabeth. She was shot." Mark took a deep breath and then continued, "Could you be one of the doctors? I want only the best. Romano's already waiting for the ambulance outside." Kerry stopped for a second and then said, "Mark, I'm sorry about Elizabeth. I'll help work on her." She said. Kerry took off and ran out to the ambulance bay. "Dr.Kovac, Dr.Finch," Mark called out to them. Mark could tell by the look on their faces that they had already heard what had happened. He tried to ignore that fact and said, "My daughter, Ella, is coming in with Elizabeth. As far as the policeman on the scene could tell, Ella was fine. But, could you two look her over. You two are the best with children." Mark asked Cleo and Luka didn't hesitate to say, "Yes." Luka added, "We'll do all we can." They too, went to meet the ambulance. Randi ran up to Mark and asked, "What should I get down here? I already called up X-ray, and they're on their way down. What else should I call?" "Thanks Randi. I think that should work for now." Mark answered. Mark saw Lydia and Halea back from getting Adelle up to surgery. "Halea, Lydia, could you go meet the ambulance?" Mark asked. "Sure thing Dr.Greene." Halea answered for both of them. They both headed for the ambulance bay. "Abby, you too." Mark instructed. Abby went without a word. Mark heard the approaching sirens. He too, headed for the ambulance bay. When he got out there, the EMTs were already been unloading Elizabeth. Mark looked at her as they rolled her past. The gurney was covered in blood. Her hair had dried blood in it. Blood was splattered on her face. Mark couldn't look at it any more. Mark saw another EMT bringing Ella out. She was wailing with all her might. Mark met them and asked, "Is she okay?" The EMT said, "Yeah. Just a broken arm and a few bruises." Mark let out a sigh of relief, "I'll take her." The EMT handed Ella over to Mark very carefully, but quickly, and headed back for the ambulance. "Shhh." He tried to soothe the screaming infant, but no avail. Mark held his baby for a minute, but then Cleo came and whisked Ella away inside. 


	2. Rampage Part two

Mark just stood in the ambulance bay for a second, not knowing what to do. In the back of his mind, he heard Elizabeth talking to him that morning. She was just fine then.  
  
"Dr.Greene, uhh.. come inside." An comforting arm wrapped around Mark's shoulder. He didn't care who it was, as long as it was to help him. Dave sighed. He wasn't very good with this compassion thing that Weaver kept telling him to work on. He wasn't very good with the patient's families, but. "This is my boss," Dave thought. Mark hadn't moved yet, so Dave said again, "Let's go inside," Mark finally snapped out of his daze a bit to make his feet move. "This is not happening. It's all a nightmare. I'll wake up in the morning and forget about it," Mark said out loud. He didn't want to accept what had happened yet. Dave guided Mark into the hospital and into the lounge, away from all the chaos. Dave looked at his boss. He had never seen any one with such a look of distress on their face. That might be because he never looked at his patient's faces when he gave them bad news. It was to hard. Mark sat down in the first chair he came to. "This is not happening. It's not. Oh damn. It is. I'm in denial," Mark broke down and cried. He cried not only for himself, but for Elizabeth and Ella. For all the people who had been affected by Derek Fossen. Mark felt a sudden surge of anger at the thought of the man's name. "I'm going to kill him if I get my hands on him," Mark said through his tears. Dave heard the anger in Mark's voice, but didn't say any thing. "I am going to kill him. I'll make him suffer. I hate him to his very God damned soul," Mark said, his voice getting louder and stronger. He had never been so angry, honest, or deep before. "Do you want me to call any one?" Dave asked. Mark thought for a minute, "I don't know. Her parents?" "Okay, do you know their number?" Dave asked. "No. It should be in Elizabeth's address book though," Mark said, momentarily forgetting Derek Fossen, "It's in her purse." "Okay. Where's her purse?" Dave asked, trying to figure out how he was ever going to get the number at that rate. "Her office," Mark responded. Dave thought for a minute, trying to remember where Elizabeth's office was, "Okay. I'll go call them for you. All right?" Dave said. "Fine." Mark said. He didn't really care at this point. Dave thought for a minute. He really didn't want to leave Mark in the state he was in, "Why don't you go see Ella? Huh? I think Kovac and Dr.Finch took her to exam two." Dave suggested. "Sure." Mark said. He was already limiting himself to one word answers. Mark got up and dried his eyes. He followed Dave down the hall to exam two. Dave opened the door and let Mark go ahead of him. Cleo was holding Ella, who was still screaming, in her arms. Luka, meanwhile, was trying to look at Ella's left arm. "Oh. Dr.Greene. Come on in. Ella's fine, except for a broken arm and a few bruises," Luka said, "I'd like to get a CAT scan, just as a precaution, to make sure that Ella didn't land on her head." "Sure. Go ahead. Where's the papers?" Mark asked. Luka handed him a clipboard and Mark scribbled his name on it. Mark walked over to Cleo and Ella, "Can I?" He asked Cleo. "Sure go ahead. I think she wants her daddy," Cleo did her best to sound at least somewhat pleasant for Mark. Mark took Ella in his arms, "Shhh. Daddy's here honey," Mark soothed. Mark sat on the bed and rocked Ella in his arms, "Dr.Finch, do you think you could go look in the refrigerator and see if there is any milk?" Mark asked "Sure. I'll be right back," Cleo said. She walked out the door. Cleo walked down to the lounge and looked in the refrigerator. There was a carton of milk. Cleo took it out and looked at it's sell by date, "Good. Only a day ago." She said to herself. Cleo stuck it in the microwave for a few seconds. When the microwave sounded, Cleo took the milk out, "Damn. No bottle," she said to herself. She thought for a minute and then said, "They've gotta have one in OB," Cleo left the milk in the microwave and walked into the hall. Before she went upstairs, she decided to go see how Elizabeth was doing. She went to trauma two and looked on through the window in the door. Elizabeth's heart monitor was beeping wildly and there was blood everywhere. Romano was doing some sort of operation and Kerry was trying to revive Elizabeth's heart and the same time. Every time Kerry yelled, "Clear!" Romano would take his hands out of Elizabeth's body for a second, and then after Kerry shocked with the internal paddles, he would resume thee operation. Cleo held her breath. So far, the internal paddles weren't doing any good. Kerry decided to take it up a level. "Clear!" she yelled. Romano took his hands out and Kerry stuck the paddles in and shocked. The heart monitor changed it's pattern. 


	3. Rampage Part Three

Elizabeth's heart resumed a normal beat. Everyone in the room sighed. Romano continued with whatever surgery he was doing. "Okay, Just let me sew up this one hole for now, and let's get her up to the OR," Romano instructed. Cleo let out a sigh of relief. Elizabeth was okay- for the time being, any way. Cleo remembered what she had to do and made her way up to OB. "I need a baby bottle. Do you have one I can use?" Cleo asked the first nurse she saw. "Yeah, just a minute. Let me finish this stack of charts first," The nurse said, brushing Cleo off. Cleo was not one to be ignored so she said, "If you can tell me where to get a bottle, I'll get it my self." The nurse didn't look up, but said, "I said just a minute." Cleo was getting fed up, "I don't have a minute! There is a man down there with a screaming daughter that is hungry, and his wife has been shot by a maniac," Cleo raged, "Now, can I PLEASE have a bottle?" "Fine. Down that hall. Second door on your left," The nurse said, motioning with her pen in the direction of the hall Cleo was to take. Cleo didn't bother to say thank you. She just went down the hall and into the supply closet. There was a shelf full of baby bottles. Cleo just grabbed the first one and headed for the elevator. When Cleo got back down to the ER, she went back to the lounge and made up the bottle. Before she even got within thirty feet of exam two, she could hear Ella crying. Cleo quickened her pace. When Cleo opened the door, Mark was still trying to quiet Ella. Cleo gave him the bottle, which he gave to Ella, who quickly began to suck hungrily at the bottle. "Thanks," Mark said gratefully to Cleo. "No problem."Cleo said. There was an awkward silence for a moment, then Cleo said, "I checked up on Elizabeth. From what I could see, I think she's okay. Her heart is beating and she's up in the OR now," Mark didn't respond at first. He just thought for a minute. Then he said, "Thanks. A lot." Mark trailed off. The last thing he wanted to talk about right then was Elizabeth. She could die. He didn't want to lose her. He didn't want to talk about losing her. "Hey, Dr.Greene, I got the number for Dr.Corday's parents and called, but no one picked up at either house," Dave said as he barged into the room. Mark sighed, "Oh, that's right. Her dad is a doctor. He most likely is at work. Elizabeth said her mother was giving a lecture somewhere in France. I have no clue where though," Mark said. "Okay, if you know her father's work number."Dave stopped, "But you don't, do you?" Mark shook his head, "I know Elizabeth doesn't have it either," Mark took a deep breath and watched his daughter suck at the bottle for a moment. Watching his daughter reminded him of Rachel, "Malucci, give me the phone." Dave complied and said, "I'll dial. What's the number?" Mark quickly gave Dave Jen's home number in St.Louis. The phone rang once, and then Jen picked up. "Hello?" She asked. "Hey Jen. Do you think Rachel could come out. now?" Mark asked. Then he added, "It's an emergency," He heard Jennifer sigh, "Mark, if you haven't noticed, it's the middle of the week and she has school. What sort of emergency is this?" "Umm. Elizabeth. Elizabeth." Mark couldn't finish the sentence. He couldn't say it without his voice cracking. He handed the phone to Luka. "Hello?" Luka asked, unsure of who he was speaking to. "Hello? Who is this? Where's Mark?" Jen asked, very confused. "Hi. I'm Dr.Kovac-" Luka got cut off. "Oh my God. Is Mark okay? Did the cancer-" Jen started to imagine the worst. In turn, Luka cut her off. "No, he's fine. It's not him. It's his wife, Elizabeth Corday. She's." Luka glanced at Mark, unsure of what to say. Mark just nodded. "She's been. shot. She's in critical condition. Umm. I believe that Dr.Greene wanted. Rachel." Luka said the name with a little bit of question in his voice. "Yes, our daughter," "Oh okay. I believe he wanted Rachel to come to Chicago?" Luka asked. "Yes. Umm. I can't come out there with her though. I had an ear infection. The doctor said I shouldn't fly for a few days. I already had to cancel a hearing in Alabama. My husband can't go either. We have two other children, and he has to take care of them," Jen said honestly, "I wish I could get her out there, but I can't. Tell Mark I'm really sorry," "Okay, right," Luka looked at Cleo and Dave. They knew what had happened over the phone. They had been listening closely to the receiver. Dave had an idea, "Wait a minute," he said to Luka, "Give me the phone." Before Luka could say anything, Dave had snatched it out of his hand. "Hi. I'm Dr.Dave Malucci, a. colleague of Dr.Greene's. I understand that you can't accompany your daughter out here. Tell me, how old is Rachel?" Dave asked. "Twelve and a half. Why?" "Look, put her on a flight to O'Hare. I'll personally make sure that she gets here safe and sound," Dave offered. "I don't know." Jen hesitated, "but it is an emergency. Look, I'll get her on the first flight I can, and call back with the information okay? What number should I call you at?" "How about this, I'll give you my pager and I'll call you. My number is." And Dave gave her his number. "Yeah, okay bye." Dave said, and hung up, "Rachel is coming. I don't know when, but she's coming," Dave announced. 


	4. Rampage Part Four

"I can't believe you talked her into putting Rachel on a plane by herself," Mark said, managing a smile, "Malucci, you shoulda been a politician. If you can talk Jen into doing that, you can talk the country into strip mining Yellowstone." "Nah," Dave said, "I couldn't stand government class in college. I don't think that I would live through one campaign if I were to become a politician," "Well," Cleo said, trying to keep Mark's mind distracted, "You certainly have the personality for the job." Dave thought about that comment, trying to figure out weather it was a compliment or not. Finally he just said, "What's that supposed to mean?" Cleo normally wouldn't bother to answer a question of that sort, but something on Dave's face said that he wasn't really in the mood to be asking them. He was just doing it for Mark's sake. So Cleo decided to go along with it, "Nothing. I just think you have a fitting personality for a politician. A Republican," She said, knowing very well that Dave was Democrat, but never bothered to vote. "Hey! I do not have a personality of a Republican. A Republican is someone like George Bush. I do NOT sound like him," Dave protested. Cleo smiled, "Oh, so Al Gore is better?" Dave didn't have an answer for that. Cleo had gotten him there. Luka didn't have a good understanding of American politics. He just sat there, listening to Cleo and Dave have what was clearly a fake argument, and watch Mark with Ella. Mark was holding Ella close, like he was afraid that he would lose her too. Mark was staring at his daughter, but wasn't really looking at her. He just locked his eyes on her, not really processing any thing he saw. Luka knew that feeling all too well. He remembered being afraid to lose someone close to you, being afraid for your child, for your wife. Luka stopped thinking about it before the image of his dead family came back to him. He preferred to remember them from the times when they were happy. The clock hands moved slowly. For the most part, Cleo, Dave, and Luka stayed in the exam room with Mark. Sometimes they would leave to see if they could get any news on Elizabeth. Each time, they got the same answer, "Still in the OR," Mark didn't leave at all. It was bad enough having the people in the same room with him feel sorry for him, but he didn't want to see the faces of his other colleagues. Not yet, any way. He knew he'd have to leave at one point or another. Cleo and Dave kept trying to keep a conversation going, which was hard, because they were running out of topics. Dave somehow kept coming up with one. Every now and then Luka would say something. Mark even said something once. Cleo and Dave talked about everything from grade school to Dave's old girlfriends. On the latter subject, Dave did all the talking. Normally someone would have stopped him, but today, they just let him jabber on. Dave wasn't really in the talking mood. He was just doing it for Mark's sake. He wished that Cleo would talk a little more, or at least bring up a new subject. He didn't have much more to say on mechanics. He had already gone through every girlfriend he had had from when he was in eighth grade on, to how he thought the president should be running the country. Dave stalled a little bit, hoping Cleo or Luka would jump in with something to say. No luck. There was an awkward silence, in which Dave thought that he would probably die from it. Luka and Cleo exchanged uneasy glances. They didn't know what to do. Mark certainly wasn't going to be depended on to break the silence. Just when Luka looked like he was going to say something, the shrill sound of a pager filled the room. Luka, Cleo, and Dave all reached for their pagers. It was discovered the pager was Dave's. Dave looked at the number. It was vaguely familiar as Jen's number. Dave turned the pager off and took the phone out of it's cradle. He dialed the number that showed up on the pager. "Hello?" Jen asked as soon as she picked up the phone, "Uhh. Hi. This is Dr.Malucci again. I think you were the one I talked to about Rachel coming to Chicago." "Yeah. This is Jennifer, otherwise known to you as Mark's ex. I got Rachel on a flight that leaves in an hour. Do you have a pen and paper?" She asked. Dave looked around. Not seeing any paper, he mouthed, "paper" to Cleo, who ran to the desk. Meanwhile, Dave was trying to explain what had happened to Elizabeth.  
  
"You mean Rachel could be in danger if she goes?" Jen asked. Dave thought quickly, "Oh no. Mark, the baby, and Rachel will be staying somewhere else, most likely somewhere in the hospital," Dave knew he had lied, but something told him that until Elizabeth got better, that was probably going to be true. Mark wouldn't leave her side. "Okay. I'm not to sure. They will have a police guard, right?" "Most likely, yes," Dave guessed. He knew he was most likely right on that also. Jen sighed, "Okay, as long as there is a police guard, I guess she'll be all right," By that time, Cleo had come back with a pad of paper. Dave grabbed Luka's pen and said, "Okay go ahead with the flight information," "Okay," Jen said, "She'll get into O'Hare at 11:00pm Chicago time at gate C17." She paused for a minute, and was murmuring to herself, as if reading something. Finally she said, "Okay, who should I tell them to allow to pick up Rachel?" Dave thought for a minute. He knew that none of the doctors could leave, with this madman still shooting up Chicago. One of the nurses possibly. Dave wasn't sure so he said, "I'll call you back in five, okay?" "Right. Bye." "Bye." Dave hung the phone back up. Cleo, Luka and Mark were looking at Dave expectantly. He said, "We need someone to pick her up. We have to notify the airport ahead of time. Mark, I don't think you should go." Dave motioned for Luka and Cleo to come closer, so Mark wouldn't hear, "Okay, none of the doctors can go, with this whole. thing still going on. Maybe one of the nurses. Look, I'll go see who can pick her up." He said quietly. "Fine." Cleo said. Luka just nodded. Dave went out into the busy hall. Another gunshot victim had come in. He could hear Kerry and Peter yelling directions in the trauma room. At this point, Dave didn't even bother asking what had happened. He just went in search of a nurse. He spotted a cluster of them over by the admit desk. Dave walked over and headed for the closest nurse, who happened to be Lydia, "Lydia, did you know Dr.Greene's daughter, Rachel?" Dave asked. It took a minute for the name to register with Lydia's mind, but when it did, she said, "Oh yeah, Rach. Yeah. I knew her when she was little, why?" "She's coming out to be with Mark tonight. We need someone to pick her up at the airport. We need to notify the airlines ahead of time who's gonna be there for her. None of the doctors can go until this guy is caught and all these gunshots are taken care of. So, it's gonna have to be a nurse. You up for it?" Dave asked. Lydia didn't hesitate to say, "Yes." She wanted to get away from all the chaos. Usually it didn't bother her, but today it did. Dave quickly gave Lydia the piece of paper with all the flight information on it and went back to Exam Two to call Jen back again. "Dr.Malucci?" Jen asked as soon as she picked the phone up. "Yeah. A nurse named Lydia Write is going to pick Rachel up. Is there any thing else we need to know?" "Yeah. Lydia is going to need a source of identification like a passport or driver's license or something like that," Jen responded. "Okay. I'll tell her," Dave said, "Is there any thing else that we need to know?" "No, nothing comes to mind. I'll page you if there is something, okay?" Jen asked. "Right. Bye." Dave said. He hung the phone back up and went in search of Lydia. As soon as he stepped into the hallway, Dave could tell that a trauma was coming in. The nurses and doctors were running about moving patients, trying to make room for the people that were about to come in. Dave went up to Abby, and asked, "Please don't tell me that asshole didn't shoot some more people," "If I told you that, I would be lying," Abby responded, as she tried to move an uncooperative patient out of Curtain Area Three. Dave grabbed a nearby clean gurney and rolled in replacement of the old one that Abby was rolling away. Dave caught up with Abby and asked, "How many this time?" Abby looked over her shoulder at him and said, "We gave the EMTs Two major, ten minor. They're giving us six major, nine minor," she stopped the gurney just in time to stop it from bumping into the wall. After she had straightened it out, she said, "We need everyone, especially with two doctors down. Weaver's having Randi call in whoever's off and the other departments to get them to send down anyone they can, which of course is none. The good news is, though that Dr.Chen's going to be here any minute and Carter is coming right now. That's about it." Dave turned around and went back to Exam Two. As soon as he entered, he said, "Kovac, Dr.Finch, big trauma coming in. They need us out there," All eyes went towards Mark. Seeing this, he said, "Don't worry, we'll be fine," This didn't comfort Luka, Cleo, and Dave much, since they knew that he was lying. They had no choice though. They walked out the door, leaving Mark alone with Ella- and his thoughts. 


	5. Rampage Part Five

Mark tried hard to block his mind of any thoughts. He was failing miserably. All he could think about was how Elizabeth looked on the gurney when she was rolled by him. She had looked horrible. Blood had never bothered Mark at all, but remembering how much blood there was around Elizabeth made him throw up. H e tried to get up, but at the last minute, remembered Ella, who was now resting comfortably in his arms. So Mark just leaned over and threw up on the floor. "I should never have left Elizabeth this morning," Mark thought. Of course, the last bit of logic he had told him that there was no way he could have known that this was going to happen. "It should have been me. That should be me on the gurney," Mark realized. It had been him that Fossen was after, not his family. "I was the one who helped Adelle put his kid in foster care," He thought, "It should have been me," --------------------------------------------------------- Upstairs in the OR, Romano and Peter worked in complete silence, except when necessary. They had already nearly lost Elizabeth twice. The bullet was embedded not an eighth of an inch away from her heart. So far though, Neither of the surgeons had seen a leak where the bullet may have nicked the outer wall of the heart. They had to be extremely careful extracting the bullet. If they moved the metal instruments the wrong way, they could easily put a hole in her heart. So far, they had managed to move the bullet just a little farther away from the heart so it might be easier to grasp. Now Romano had scarcely more than an eighth of an inch to pull the bullet out with the metal instrument. It was clear that Romano was getting frustrated at having to work so slow. It was a very tedious process. Finally, he said, "God damn it!" and stuck his gloved hands into Elizabeth's opened chest and extracted the bullet by hand. Peter just looked at him for a second and looked as if he was about to say something, but then he went about looking closely at Elizabeth's beating heart, to make sure that there was no hole. As far as he could tell, Elizabeth had been extremely lucky. Romano was doing the same thing that Peter was. Even the nurses were looking, even though it wasn't their job to do so. Normally Romano would have objected, but today, he did not. After over forty-five minutes of checking for nicks, satisfied, Romano and Peter sewed Elizabeth's chest back up. ________________________________________________________________ The ER was in total chaos. There wasn't enough room for all the patients, and the ones that weren't shot were complaining as loudly as they could. Even Randi, who never really had much more to do than make a phone call and answer the incoming calls was being bombarded with patients who thought she was a nurse. The trauma rooms were being used, and any where that there was room to treat a critical patient was full. Nurses were running around frantically and doctors were yelling orders. Finally, after nearly two hours of traumas, the ER was left with four patients pronounced dead, one in a coma that he was unlikely to come out of, and one in surgery. The doctors now had to deal with the "walking wounded." Dr. Weaver was tending to a guy who had tripped while seeking cover from the shots. She finally noticed that Mark was missing, and that all the doctors and nurses were within her sight. "Hey!" Kerry called across the ER, "who's with Mark?" Luka and Cleo exchanged glances and left the patients they were treating and ran to the room they had left Mark and Ella in, expecting something to be terribly wrong. They stamped into the room and found everything the way they had left it. Mark looked up from Ella. Seeing that it was Cleo and Luka, he went back to looking at Ella. "Dr.Greene, are you okay?" Luka asked. "I've been better," Mark responded. "Umm. trauma's over." Cleo said. She started to walk over to Mark. Luka looked where Cleo was walking and said, "Watch out." Cleo looked down and saw a puddle of vomit, "Dr.Greene, are you okay? Did you throw up?" Mark didn't take his eyes off Ella, but just said, "Yeah. I'm fine," "Do you want some aspirin or something. I'm sure you could use it," Luka said, knowing the feeling all to well. Mark looked as it he was going to say no, but then said, "Actually, that would be nice," "Okay then, I'll. go find some; I guess." Cleo backed out of the room. The silence was really getting to her. She walked into the hall, and went to the lounge. She kept a bottle of Advil in her locker for those days where there was just to much stress. She opened the bottle and poured a pile of pills into her hand, and put all but four back into the jar. She walked to the sink, and got a mouthful of water, and took two of the pills herself. She was just swallowing when she was interrupted by a voice, "Aspirin. God's greatest gift. I think I'll dig into my stash." Cleo turned around to find Abby behind her, "Oh. Yeah. Hi." Cleo acknowledged the nurse, "Have the police caught that guy yet?" Cleo asked. "Nope. Another two people came in. He took hijacked their car." They're find though one just had a mild concussion, and the other had been shot in the upper arm. He's still waiting for someone to take the bullet out." Cleo sighed, "How many people are going to have to die before they catch this guy? Come on, it can't be that hard," "I don't know," Abby said, "All I know is that we need a lot more people." "Well, I gotta go," Cleo said, "Dr.Greene needs some aspirin." "How's he doing? I hope he's doing okay." Abby said. "So far, he hasn't done much. He's talking some." Cleo said, as she walked out the door. ------------------------------------------------- Dave finished stitching a man's arm up. The man was jabbering on about how he almost got shot by some lunatic on the street. Dave didn't stay to listen. He simply got up and filled out a discharge sheet. Then he finally went off in search of Lydia. He found her in the lounge, getting ready to go. "Lydia, Glad I caught you. You need to bring some identification to the airport. Remember, Rachel gets in at gate C17 at 11:00, okay?" Dave reminded her. "Yes, I remember. Now, I have to go before I get pulled into another trauma." Lydia said, leaving. She left, leaving Dave in the lounge, in the ER, where all chaos was.  
  
Just then, Kerry walked in with Luka. Apparently, they were in the middle of a conversation. ".How did she go into a coma? My god, you were sewing her up! How did we all miss internal bleeding?" Kerry asked, disbelieving. Romano and Peter followed in behind Kerry. "It didn't show up on any of the abdominal scans. We don't know how it happened. When we looked at her stomach. some big bruises had shown up. Since we were working on the heart, no one thought to check the abdomen area," Peter said slowly, choosing his words carefully. Kerry looked from one man to the other, expecting an explanation. Dave, who had gone unnoticed by the three other doctors in the lounge, cleared his throat, and said, "So. how did she get the bruises?" Kerry jumped, startled, at the voice. She almost lost her cane, but quickly got it back. She was about ready to turn around to yell at Dave, but Romano stopped her. He was about to say something, but then at the last minute, looked at Peter awkwardly. Peter took a breathe and said, "The goddamn maniac.he." Peter couldn't say it. This is what he said about his patients to their families. Not about one of his best friends. Tears welled up in his eyes, but he blinked them back, because he refused to cry in front of his co-workers, especially Romano. Romano couldn't take it, "He beat her.that's all there is too it. He beat her and then shot her. Elizabeth." Romano now wanted to cry. Going against common belief, he actually did care about things other than his dog. He too, though, was to proud to cry in front of his co-workers. Kerry didn't want to cry. She was in shock. She was still a little bit in denial about all of this happening in the first place. This was just too much to absorb in one day. Dave just said, "Oh my God. I'm gonna kill him, if I get the chance,"  
  
Kerry looked up and turned around. Dave could see that tears were now streaking down her face, "I think we all feel that way," She said. There was a horrible silence that followed. _____________________________________________________________________ After a while, and after everyone had sat down to think, Peter said, "Who's gonna tell Mark?" At that, all eyes looked at each other. No one wanted to be the bringer of bad news. Finally, when Romano couldn't put up with the silence, and the images that filled his mind, he stood up and said, "I'll do it," ____________________________________________ Lydia craned her neck to find Rachel. She hadn't seen her in years, so she had no idea as to what she looked like. She was just looking for a girl getting off the plane from St.Louis. Finally, a girl that strongly resembled the young Rachel that Lydia remembered, got off the plane. Lydia hurried to meet her, "Rachel? Rachel Greene?" Lydia asked the girl. "Yeah," Rachel replied, "It's me," A stewardess came up behind Rachel and asked Lydia, "Are you Lydia Write?" Lydia nodded and took out her driver's license and showed it to the stewardess. The woman looked at it for a moment, and then satisfied, gave it back to Lydia. Lydia and Rachel stood awkward for a moment and then Rachel said, "I want to go see my dad, and Elizabeth." Lydia nodded, and said, "Do you have any bags to pick up?" Rachel said "No. Didn't have time to pack. My mom gave me a blank check just in case I stay long enough that I need clothes. She gave me money to pick up a toothbrush and stuff." Lydia nodded, "Save your mom's money. The hospital has all that stuff. Come on let's go." Lydia picked up a fast pace through the airport, but soon found herself running to catch up with Rachel. Rachel ran out the automatic door, and was about to cross the busy airport drive, when Lydia caught up with her, "Slow down honey," In response, Rachel kept running. Seeing that nothing would slow Rachel, Lydia yelled, "Mine's the third to the left on the second level!" and then sprinted across the road to catch Rachel. ----------------------------------------------------- Robert Romano walked slowly towards the exam room where Mark was waiting with Ella. He walked as slow as possible. Romano never dreaded any moment in his life as much as the one that was about to come. Romano never had a problem telling a patient's family that the patient was dead or brain dead or something. He never stayed to listen to them cry; he always let a nurse console them. Then, he would forget those people and move on to the next patient. Mark, though, was different. Romano knew he couldn't leave. Not because he would be disapproved of, but because he knew that the second he shut the door, he'd feel guilty if he didn't stay. Soon enough, the door was upon him. Romano took a deep breath, and opened the door. Cleo and Luka looked up to see who it was. Seeing it was Romano, they knew what was coming. "Would you excuse us Dr.Finch, Doctor." Romano drew a blank on Luka's name. Instead of finishing for Romano, Luka just followed Cleo out the door. Romano studied Mark for a minute. Mark was still watching Ella. Romano could see the hurt and tears in Mark's eyes. Romano cleared his throat. When Mark didn't look up, he said, "Dr. Greene" Mark just nodded to show he was listening. Romano bit his lip. He didn't know how to tell Mark about Elizabeth. He didn't even know how to accept it himself. So, Romano just began. "Elizabeth. Elizabeth made it through the surgery. umm. but." Romano looked at Mark. Mark had now looked up, expectantly, bracing himself for what was to come. His eyes showed love, hate, sadness; but what Romano saw was fear. ".Elizabeth. she. she went into a coma." There. He had said it. Romano didn't want to look at Mark; he didn't want to see the reaction.; but Romano made himself look. Somehow, he had to. Nothing could have prepared him for what he saw though. Mark was crying. The only person he had ever cried in front of was Elizabeth, when his dad had died. Ella was starting to slip from his grasp, but he was to distracted to notice. Romano noticed though, and gently took Ella out of Mark's arms. Romano hadn't known what to expect. He didn't think Mark would cry though. Mark just didn't seem like that kind of man to Romano. Mark's eyes were filled with pure fear now. Fear of losing Elizabeth. Fear of losing everything he loved. Pure Fear. Romano had to look away. He couldn't take it any more. He looked down at the baby in his arms, and saw the most innocent thing he had ever seen in his life. Ella was sleeping restlessly. It must have been a very troubled sleep. If Romano remembered correctly, Ella was scarcely a month old. A month old, and the possibility of losing her mother. 


	6. Rampage Part Six

Lydia and Rachel drove to the hospital in silence. All sorts of thoughts were running through Rachel's head. Rachel was beating herself up inside, "I never knew Elizabeth. God, Dad loved her and I was so mean to her. She was there when I got my period, and all I did was yell at her. I never said thank you. I purposely tried to mess her Thanksgiving up as much as I could. The thing about the party hat, the potatoes, the thing about the pilgrims. then I decide to like her only after I'm stuck with her because Dad marries her. She put up with me, and probably hates me now, and I might not get to make it up to her. Dad loves her, and Elizabeth's never done any thing to hurt me or my dad. All she did was love my dad back." Rachel let a tear escape from her eye. She didn't bother to wipe it off. She was too tired. It was almost midnight, and she was exhausted because her mom had told her about Elizabeth and they had left for the airport all within twenty minutes. Rachel's thoughts turned to Ella, "I've never even met her. How pathetic is that? Some big sister I am. At least I know my parents. Ella might never remember her mother. Elizabeth might not be there for Ella's first period. She was there for mine, and I'm not even her daughter. She might not see Ella take her first steps, or hear her say her first word. She'll never see Ella on her first day of school, or graduate from college. She'll miss so much. Ella's so little. She's less than a month old. She can't lose her mom now. If Elizabeth gets better, I'm moving in with them. I'm going to make it up to her, and make sure Ella knows her mother better than I know, or like mine. I'll make sure that Ella knows she has a sister." Eventually Rachel fell asleep, like the six-year-old that Lydia remembered would have done. ____________________________________________ Mark sat there, speechless. He couldn't decide how to respond, or even process the information fully, for that matter. He silently cried, not knowing how else to respond. In his life, he had lost so much. He wasn't prepared or emotionally capable of losing Elizabeth. First Jenn, though that wasn't much of a loss in itself, he almost lost Rachel. She had been so close to pushing him out of her life. Then Susan, who was his best friend. Then both of his parents had died. He had almost lost his own life, and then there was complications with Elizabeth's pregnancy with Ella. Now, after all of that, life was dealing him yet another card. Romano didn't know what to do, or say. His first inclination was to say, "She'll be alright," but both he and Mark knew that Elizabeth might not. So, Romano just kept his mouth shut, not finding anything else to say.  
  
Mark looked up, and wiped his eyes with his sleeve. He just stared at the clock. He couldn't look Romano in the eyes. Mark knew that Romano was pitying him, and he hated that. He didn't want pity. He didn't know what he wanted. He just knew he wanted Elizabeth. There was a soft knock on the door. Romano shifted Ella's weight in his arms, and went to the door. He saw a girl of about twelve standing in front of a nurse, who looked like she was out of breath. Romano was about to say, "This room is occupied right now. You need to find another room," Before Romano could say any thing, the girl said, "Dad?" Romano looked at her. He remembered hearing that Mark did have another daughter. She did look somewhat like Mark. Rachel had never seen her dad like that. Never in her life. She had seen him sad, but there was something different this time. Then Rachel saw it. He wasn't so much sad as he was scared. Rachel didn't like it one bit. She knew something must have happened, and it couldn't have been good. Rachel stepped inside the door, and repeated, "Dad?" Mark looked at Rachel this time, and said, "Hey. Rach. Come here," he opened his arms. Rachel snuggled into her dad's lap, like she had done when she was small. Mark rocked back and forth, like Rachel remembered him doing. Rachel desperately wanted to know what had happened, but common sense told her that she shouldn't ask then. Romano looked on at the scene. Unwittingly, he had begun to rock Ella in his arms in the same fashion that Mark was rocking Rachel. The scene continued like this for a few minutes, until Mark said, "God Rachel." and held her to him protectively. Rachel couldn't take it any more, "Dad." she said cautiously, "What's wrong with Elizabeth? Is she. is she okay? What happened. I mean how did she get here in the first place? Mom wouldn't' tell me any thing." she said, picking her words carefully. Mark sighed, and wiped his eyes, and said, "Elizabeth. honey, Elizabeth got shot," He struggled to get the words out. Rachel drew in a breath, and said, "Dad." "She went into a coma after surgery. other than that, I don't know any thing else." Mark finished. He looked up at Romano, "Unless, you need to tell me something else." Romano did. He needed to tell Mark how Elizabeth got internal bleeding. Mark assumed that it was the bullet. Romano knew it wasn't. He couldn't say it though. The situation was already to awkward, and now that Rachel was there, he couldn't just say it. Romano knew Mark would find out eventually. "I volunteered for this. why did I. I should have had Kerry do it. I have to tell him though." Romano's thoughts were interrupted by, "What is it? There's more than you told me isn't there?" Mark asked. Romano looked at Rachel, and then back at Mark. Mark understood, "Rachel, honey, do you remember where the lounge is?" "Yeah. umm. I'll be there when you're done," Rachel said as she got up. She turned around and gave her dad one last hug, and walked quickly out the door. Mark watched Rachel out the door, until it slammed shut. Mark finally realized that Romano still had Ella in his arms after all this time. "Oh, here, I'll take her," Romano gently placed Ella in her father's arms. After Mark got Ella settled, he looked at Romano expectantly. He didn't say any thing, though, to get his attention. After a few moments, Romano shifted his weight to the other foot and said quickly, "It wasn't the bullet. It was internal bleeding," Mark took a minute to process it. He was pretty sure he understood it, except, he wasn't sure that he did, fully, "What?" "The bullet didn't do any thing. It came out all right. It was internal bleeding. We all. missed it. I guess," Romano said, a bit slower this time. "Damn." That was all Mark said. He didn't have the energy to get to upset this time. He didn't really feel like it either. He sat there for a minute, checking for the fiftieth time that night that it wasn't a nightmare. Unfortunately, it wasn't. Finally, Mark got up and said, "Where's Elizabeth?" "Recovery Room. Ella and Rachel can't go in for three days," Romano warned. Mark knew that, but he was hoping he could get around that. Romano saw the doubt in Mark's eyes and said, "Babies and kids carry tons of germs. More than adults. It's not safe. If Elizabeth gets so much as the sniffles." Romano didn't know how to finish. "Fine." Mark walked out. He made his way to the lounge. Some of the staff noticed, and followed with their eyes. As soon as Mark disappeared into the lounge, they all exchanged glances. In the lounge, Mark found Rachel sitting on one of the couches, finger combing her hair. Rachel hardly looked up at Mark when he came in. Mark hesitated, "I hardly know her," he thought, "What if she doesn't care? What if she just came because Jenn told her?" Mark quickly pushed aside those thoughts when he saw a tear roll down Rachel's cheek. Mark walked over and sat next to his daughter, and let her lean on him, "You have no idea how horrible I feel," she said, her voice cracking. Mark wasn't sure how to respond to that. He didn't know what Rachel was talking about. He was about to say something, when Rachel kept going. "I was such a brat to her at Thanksgiving. I never apologized, and I might never get too. All she'll ever remember me as is a ten-year-old brat," Rachel let the tears flow. She buried her face into her dad's chest. Mark was a bit taken back. He had no idea that Rachel would take it so hard. He rocked Rachel a bit and said, "It's okay honey. It's okay. Elizabeth didn't hold it against you. She was that age, too remember, with divorced parents. She knew what it was like. Don't worry, Rach." Rachel tried to dry her eyes. She only succeeded at calming her self down, because a few tears were still escaping her eyes. Mark wanted to go see Elizabeth, but he couldn't leave Rachel like this. Mark knew he had to be a father first. Romano gazed in on the scene through the window. It was almost mesmerizing, Mark cradling a baby in one hand and hugging his other daughter in his other arm. It would have been a heart-warming scene, if it had been happening under different circumstances. "How'd he take it?" Romano jumped a little, startled. He turned to see Kerry behind him. "Oh. Okay I guess," Romano said, "I kind of left out the part about how Elizabeth got internal bleeding, but. I guess I should have told him," "It's hard, I know. It's difficult enough when it's a total stranger, but when it's someone you know. It's heartbreaking," Kerry said, "I'm sure you did the best you could." Romano remembered the other time when someone on the staff was hurt. "Who told the families of that med student, Ms.Knight, and that resident, the one who." Romano didn't know how to finish. Now definitely wasn't the time to be bringing a drug addiction up, but that was the only way he knew Carter. "Carter?" Kerry guessed. "Yeah. Him. Who told the families?" Kerry wracked her mind for a moment and then said, "Peter Benton told Carter's grandmother, and I believe that it was Elizabeth who told Lucy's mother that she had died." Romano fell silent for a minute, "Do you think I should go in and tell him the rest?" he asked. Kerry shook her head, "No. I know Mark, and he can only handle so much emotion at a time. Give him time to get a handle on this, first. Tell him tomorrow. or I could do it, if you want." Kerry offered. "No," Romano shook his head, "I kind of fell like I owe him at least that much, I mean I was the one who missed the internal bleeding," "No, Robert. We all missed it. Half a dozen people down here, and another half dozen up stairs. It wasn't your fault," Kerry pointed out. "Yeah, I guess. I think it might make me more secure about this though," Deb came up behind them, and said, "Four GSWs are coming in," Romano sighed, "Same guy?" Deb just nodded, and said, "We need help, we're short a trauma surgeon and a doctor." "Right. I'll be right there," Kerry said, "and page Benton. We'll probably need him," "No don't. I'll do this. Benton's over his head up there already," Romano said, "He's going out one surgery, changing, and going into the next. He's the only surgeon on hand. We're trying to get the rest of them in, though. So far though, no luck," Romano said, heading for the ambulance bay. Inside the lounge, Rachel had stopped crying and was leaning on her father. Ella had woken up, but thankfully, hadn't made a peep. Mark was getting a bit antsy to go see Elizabeth, but he contained himself for a while. Finally, when he thought Rachel was okay, he said, "Rachel, I'd like to go see Elizabeth. Would you be okay on your own? I'll drop Ella off at daycare on my way upstairs. "Can I go? Please?" Rachel inquired, looking up. Mark sighed. He knew this would be coming, "Rachel, No one but immediate family can see her, and immediate family that is under eighteen can't go in for three days." Rachel's face fell, "Guess I struck out twice then, didn't I?" Mark realized his mistake and quickly corrected himself, "Elizabeth considers you family, honey. You're a second daughter to her. In three days, if everything. works out, you can go see her," "Okay. yeah, I'll be fine. Go ahead." "Are you sure?" Mark double checked. Rachel nodded and said, "Yeah," Mark gave Rachel a quick squeeze, and kissed her on top of her head, and got up. Mark looked around for someone who wasn't doing any thing, which of course there wasn't any one. Mark really didn't want Rachel to be alone. Mark heard a commotion coming from down the hall. Carter was trying to revive a patient with the paddles, but so far without success. The patient was opened up. Mark didn't bother to ask what had happened to the poor man. Somehow he already knew. Finally, a few doctors and nurses began to congregate at the front desk. Mark spied Kerry in the crowd. He stood on the outside of the crowd, waiting for Kerry to finish talking. ". Look, we need more trauma areas prepared. Convert three exam rooms into trauma stations. All of them need to have the basics for traumas. Halea, go upstairs and tell them that we need two more sets of paddles. We only have enough for three traumas, and at the rate this guy is going, we need to expect a lot more," Kerry took a breath going over her mental list of things she needed to get done, "Oh. Randi, call the police station, and ask them how their doing-" "I did five minutes ago. The guy basically shoots and runs. They can't catch someone like that very easily." Randi said. "My guess is that he's changing clothes a lot. You might wanna see if you can get a picture of this guy for the hospital, I mean all things considering. First the foster home, then the social worker, then Dr.Gr-" Frank stopped short, seeing Mark. Kerry saw Mark also, and said, "Right Frank. You see if you can do that. Everyone else just get ready for the next trauma, and get a lot of blood down here, ready," Kerry made her way through the crowd to Mark, "Is everything. are you okay?" "Umm.yeah, but I have need a favor from you. I wouldn't normally ask this of you, but-" Mark stopped short. "Mark? Mark? What is it? Are you okay?" Kerry asked frantically. Mark's eyes were glued to something in the waiting area. Kerry turned, and followed his gaze. Mark was watching a man who had just walked in and was making his way through the hospital toward them. Kerry turned back towards Mark and said, "Mark? Is something wrong?" Mark quickly turned around and walked quickly, back towards the lounge. He was almost there, when a gun went off. 


	7. Rampage Part Seven

Kerry didn't have to ask what was going on. She knew. Mark knew. Everyone knew. Mark froze when the gun went off. He prayed that Fossen wouldn't see him. Kerry was the first of the two to recover. She shoved Mark into the lounge, and behind a couch. Kerry looked around. She saw Rachel huddled behind the other couch, crouching over Ella, who fortunately, wasn't crying. They all heard the door open. Kerry ducked, and held her breath. "Chief?" Kerry and Mark both let their breath out. "Malucci, what?" Kerry barked. Malucci looked around, and seeing that Mark was in there said, "Umm. that guy is out there with a gun." he looked at Mark, and then whispered to Kerry, ".trying to find Mark and the baby." Kerry drew in her breath, and just nodded, "I assume the police were called?" "Yeah probably," Suddenly, the door burst open. Carter and Deb stumbled in. A stray bullet managed to find it's way through the door, and missed Kerry by three feet. "Shut the door!" Everyone yelled. Before the door closed though, everyone saw someone go down. No one got a chance to see who it was. No one knew what to do. Carter had coaxed Rachel into moving into the corner of the room farthest away from the door. Rachel didn't protest, but she clutched Ella to her breast tightly. Deb followed Rachel back there and sat with her, "It'll be over soon, honey. It'll be over soon." She whispered. Carter knew that this particular situation was not similar to the other shoot outs in the ER. Usually, they were over in a few seconds. Now, bullets were still going after five minutes. Carter looked over at Deb huddled up with Rachel and Ella. Carter felt a tap on his shoulder. Malucci was beckoning him to follow. Crouching low, Dave and Carter made their way over to the couch closest to the door. Carter had no idea what Dave was doing, but he went along with it. Dave was now trying to drag the couch behind him, so he wouldn't be in the line of fire if the door would open. Carter started to pull too. They made little progress. "God. This is getting us no where!" Dave said under his breath, and then he got up and went around to the other side of the couch and pushed. Carter was almost run over by the couch, but managed to scramble out of the way. Dave quickly maneuvered the couch so that Rachel, Deb, and Ella were completely protected from the line of fire. They were in a little triangle of two walls and the couch. Dave and Carter quickly made their way back to safety behind the other couch with Kerry and Mark. They sat there for what seemed like another ten minutes. They could hear the shooting starting and stopping. They didn't know what was going on outside the door. For all they knew, they could be the only ones left alive in the hospital. Carter looked to the window when they heard ambulances driving up in the bay. "Too bad those windows are Plexiglas." he thought. The windows didn't open either. Nothing changed for the next half hour. The sounds of bullets starting and stopping. The screams of people who had gotten hit. Sometimes the bullets were far away, sometimes they were practically right outside the door. Kerry let out a little yelp once when they all heard what was clearly a bullet going through the door of the lounge. Kerry thought, "How come they can't just get this guy?" It seemed that Fossen was invincible. ______________________________________________________________________ It had been one full hour from when the shooting had started. Deb, Rachel, and Ella sat huddled behind the couch in the corner, and Kerry, Dave, Mark, and Carter were leaning against the back of the other couch. Several bullets had come through the lounge door, by now, and each time it happened, someone let out a small whimper of surprise. Kerry pulled Carter over as far away as they could get from Mark, without leaving the safety of the couch. She whispered, "Carter, why can't they catch this guy? Come on, I mean, it's just one man. How hard can it be?" "I don't know. He's probably moving around a lot and killing just about everyone they send in; but I really don't know," Carter whispered. Ella woke up and started crying- loudly. Kerry, Carter, and Dave all turned towards the other couch. They could hear Rachel and Deb trying to calm the wailing baby. "Shhh. Ella, it's all right. You're okay." Rachel whispered. Kerry got up and hobbled over to the refrigerator. She opened it up and scanned the contents: cake from the last birthday party, apples, old bananas, half a pizza. and a carton of milk. Kerry knew that babies really shouldn't have regular milk, but it would have to do. Now she had to find a bottle. There was no bottle in the lounge, that was for sure. "Mark, do you have a baby bottle in your locker?" Kerry rose her voice just loud enough to be heard. Mark shook his head "no.' Kerry strained her mind trying to think of a way to make a bottle. She had no idea what to do, and Ella was still wailing. The baby could give them away to Fossen, and with Mark and his daughters in here, that would definitely be the worst possible thing to happen. Kerry remembered a movie where they had used a rubber glove filled with milk and a hole in one of the fingers as a bottle. Kerry took off her gloves, which fortunately, were clean, and filled one of them with milk. She then took a knife (that brought back bad memories) and used the tip to poke a miniscule hole in the middle finger. Bending down as low as she could get with her cane, she made her way over to the couch that Ella, Rachel, and Deb were behind. She handed the glove over the couch to Deb, and said, "It's milk. Let the baby suck on the middle finger." Kerry left it at that, and hurried back to her hiding spot. She was glad to hear the cries of the baby had subsided, and could hear a sucking sound coming from the other couch. Mark sat there. He was scared, mostly. Scared for himself, and for his daughters. "This is all my fault," He thought to himself. Deep down, he knew that there was really no way he could have prevented any of this from happening, but still, he took the blame for it. "I should have stayed home. Then Elizabeth might be all right, and all of this wouldn't have happened," Mark thought. He knew that if he had stayed home, Elizabeth would probably still be the way she was, and that he would be dead. "It's all my fault." played over and over again in Mark's head. He couldn't forget the day that he had started all of this, when he had sent that boy into foster care. Rachel sat behind the couch, clutching Ella, and cramped horribly in with Deb in the corner. "What is going on?" Rachel said under her breath, but softly enough that Deb couldn't hear. Rachel knew that someone was shooting up the ER, and that she was in the lounge hoping that whoever had the gun didn't find them. She didn't fully understand what had happened to Elizabeth. Rachel knew she had been shot, and that she was in critical condition. But, other than that, Rachel knew nothing. Rachel's thoughts were cut short by the sound of the lounge door opening. Everyone resisted the urge to look up above their couch, to see who it was. After a minute or two, the sound of metal clicking was heard. Everyone knew what the sound was: a gun being reloaded. 


	8. Rampage Part Eight

No one dared breathe. Deb hugged Rachel closer, and began to watch the baby very closely. The last thing they needed right now was for Ella to start crying; if she did, they'd be as good as dead. The metal clicking sound stopped. Footsteps were heard. They were coming to close for comfort for Carter. "Actually," he thought, "Any where within a five hundred mile radius of this guy was uncomfortable." The footsteps went past the couch. Kerry, Carter, Mark, and Dave could see the back of Fossen. None of the four were particularly religious, but they prayed that Fossen wouldn't turn around. They didn't pray hard enough. Fossen turned around. At first he didn't say any thing. He just stared at the group of doctors, and they stared back. Kerry was shaking with fear. "I don't want to die now," She thought, "Not now, just when I have everything going for me." Mark was trying, but failing miserably, to hide his face. He was thinking the same thing as Kerry, and also fearing for his daughters. Carter met up with a familiar feeling that he had felt on Valentine's Day. He hated that feeling. It was the feeling that made you think you were going to die. Dave just felt like he was going to throw up. He had been on the business end of a few guns before, and had made it out alive and unscathed each time. He had long since gotten over the fear of dying, "If I die, I die. I just hope it doesn't hurt," was his philosophy. "You." Fossen breathed out, "Greene. You took away my son. You took him from me," he said, getting increasingly louder, "You were the one who did it. You-" A muffled cry came from behind the couch in the corner. "Damn," Mark muttered under his breathe. Deb had her hand clamped over Ella's mouth. She hated to do it, but it had to be done. Fossen moved towards the couch, but kept his gun trained on the group of doctors in front of him, particularly Mark. He got to the couch, and in one swift movement, pushed it out of the way. Rachel screamed, and Deb took her hand off of Ella's face. The only sounds in the room were Ella's wails and the breathing of everyone. Fossen studied Rachel, Deb and Ella, but kept his gun pointed towards Kerry, Mark, Dave, and Carter. Finally he said, "You were the girl in the picture at-" Fossen turned towards Mark and continued, "his house," Fossen thought for a minute and then concluded, "You're his daughter, and that's. that's the baby." Fossen bent down, and tried to take Ella away from Rachel. She didn't let go. "Give me that kid!" Fossen yelled, as he and Rachel played tug of war with Ella. Fossen started to use his other hand, with the gun still in it. Deb started to reach over, but Fossen noticed. He stopped tugging on the baby. "You," He shouted at Deb, "Over there, with the others, now!" Deb hesitated for a moment, but then reluctantly parted with Rachel and scrambled over to Carter's side. "Now," Fossen said, "Give me the baby." Rachel looked up at him, into the barrel of the gun, and said, "No. You're not going to take my sister away from me." Fossen reached down and slapped Rachel across the face. Mark started to get up, but Dave restrained him and Kerry whispered, "He's got the gun. Don't do anything stupid, Mark." Rachel's face was bright red. It hurt, but she didn't loosen her grip on the screaming baby. "Fine," Fossen said. He let the safety go on the gun. Rachel's first instinct was to protect Ella. She twisted her torso around, and placed Ella behind her, on the floor in the corner. When she twisted back around. She was scared. "Last chance," Fossen was shaking with anger, "Give me that baby."  
  
Rachel looked up at him and said, "No, you son of a bitch." She didn't know where the words were coming from. She was so scared, but anger was beginning to take over. The gun went off. Rachel clutched her right lower arm. She could feel warm blood trickling between her fingers. Mark got up. So did Dave and Carter. Mark started over to Fossen, but Carter and Dave restrained him and dragged him back down. Dave whispered, "It's her arm, she'll be fine. She might not if you go over there." Suddenly, the door burst open. "He's in here!" everyone heard. Fossen went into action. He dragged Rachel up by her right arm. She screamed in pain. Fossen whipped her around and held her in front of himself, with his arm around Rachel's neck. Rachel bit him, and Fossen hit the back of her head with the gun. Rachel went limp in his arms. Fossen held her up, though. No words were said. The man who had burst through the door backed up into the hall and let the door swing shut. This time, Dave and Carter didn't have a chance to catch Mark. He was up and in Fossen's face before they knew it. Fossen heard Mark before he turned around. When he did turn though, he met a fist to the jaw. He let go of Rachel, and she slid down to the floor. Mark knocked the gun out of Fossen's hand and it went flying to the other side of the room. Deb got up and rant to the gun, and Dave and Carter came to Mark's aid in a split second. Kerry dragged Rachel's limp body out of the brawl. As soon as Deb had the gun, she ran to the door, opened it, and yelled, "Get in here!" Then she ran and helped Kerry with Rachel. The SWAT team rushed in, and began trying to separate the four men. They finally managed to pull Fossen out of the brawl. He was badly hurt. Mark, Carter and Dave were escorted out the door by two SWAT team members. Two others went to Kerry and Deb, who were huddled over Rachel. One took Kerry and Deb out, and the other picked Rachel up in his arms and carried her out the door. Another man was following him out with Ella. The danger was over, but the terror was just beginning. 


	9. Rampage Part Nine

There was blood everywhere in the hall; on the floor, the walls, everywhere. There were no bodies. There were no patients, no doctors, no nurses. There were only policemen and Swat team members. "Come with me please," a policeman said to the small group of doctors who had made it out of the lounge alive. The man led them to the elevator, and pressed the button for the top floor- twelve. "Where are we going?" Deb asked. "We're airlifting you all to a hospital across the border in Indiana. The hospitals in Chicago are already over their heads from this mess," The policeman left it at that. Ella started crying from the SWAT man's arms. Mark looked at his youngest daughter. He wanted to take her into his arms, but he didn't have enough energy. He couldn't take it. His gaze drifted over to Rachel, who was still unconscious, and being carried in another SWAT team member's arms. Mark looked at one of his daughters to the other. They both were hurt, and both were helpless. It was a sight that a father should never have to see. The elevator opened up, and the small group walked across the deserted floor to the stairs. They walked up the cold, cement stairwell, and onto the roof. The helicopter was all ready to go. The man that carried Rachel got in first, and got her situated on the gurney before stepping back out. Mark, Carter, Dave, Deb, Kerry, and the policeman climbed in next. Deb who was closest to the door, reached out for Ella, who was screaming. It was a bit cramped in the helicopter, but no one complained. Kerry, who was the only one not hurt, or occupied in any way, went about looking through the helicopter's medical supplies. She got Rachel started on some pain killers, first, because Kerry knew that she would hurt when she woke up- if she did. Deb inspected Ella for any injuries. The broken arm was hanging in an awkward position, and there were now quite a few black and blue marks, but all appeared to be fine. Deb looked from Ella to Rachel to Mark, and realized how much alike they looked. It was uncanny. Carter was applying antibacterial ointment to some of the cuts he had gotten from the brawl in the lounge. He offered the tube to Dave and Mark, but both refused it. Everyone was thinking to themselves, and all of their thoughts were pretty much along the same lines. "Damn," Dave thought, "That was close; way too close. We almost got killed by that guy. He was crazy. worse than that. He was friggin' gone postal." "He was worse than Paul Sobriki." Carter thought, "He was killing people for revenge. He killed for the hell of it. How does someone get to the point where they want to kill?" Deb was staring into Ella's eyes while she thought, "I can't believe that someone would try to kill a child. This baby never did any thing to him. Neither did Dr.Greene's other daughter, for that matter. How could someone want to kill something so beautiful and precious?" "I wonder who he got," thought Kerry, "Hell, for all I know, we're the only ones from County left alive, after all of this," Mark tried not to think. He was afraid of the images and thoughts that would go through his head. He couldn't just stop thinking though, "Oh my God. Please don't let my family die. I love them. They are what I live for. Are you going to take away the things that made me stay alive when I had my tumor? Are you going to do that to me? Jenn's gonna kill me already for Rachel. If my family dies and Jenn doesn't get me, I'll kill myself. Honest to God, I will." Everyone sat in silence. No one wanted to be the first to speak. No one wanted to be the first to say the unspeakable. It had been almost an hour in the helicopter. At last, the pilot's almost inaudible voice said, "Here we are. We're right over the landing pad." The helicopter descended, and everyone braced themselves for the helicopter to touch ground. When it did, the policeman leaned over Deb and Ella to open the door.  
  
"Everyone out," he said. Everyone hopped out, and the doctors at this new hospital escorted them into the building. Another group soon followed with the gurney that supported Rachel. "Look," the policeman said to what appeared to be the head doctor, "I don't want any of these people to be treated in the ER. They've been through enough today, and I think it would benefit all of them it you could keep them close together." "I'll try." "Look," the policeman said, turning to Kerry, "I gotta go back. Call me when you need anything. Some policemen will be back tomorrow to pick you all up and get whoever needs more medical treatment to Northwestern or Mercy." he handed her a card, Kerry slipped the card into her pocket, but didn't say anything. The policeman left without a word. The Chicago doctors followed the doctors who worked at the hospital to the elevator, which took them down four floors. The elevator doors opened up to a nice, quiet hallway, with a few nurses and doctors chatting idly with each other. "Did you hear what happened in Chicago?" One nurse asked. "Yeah. That guy shooting up the whole city, and then the hospital. It's scary to think that someone could do that here," another answered. The hospital staff hardly looked at the small group. "Here we are," said a nurse who had led the way. The group was at the end of a hallway with exam rooms on each side. Each exam room had three beds. "You can each have your own rooms, or you can share. Your choice," a doctor said. "I don't need any medical attention," Kerry said. Deb agreed, "Me either. I'm fine." "Look," one of the nurses said, "We've been told by the police to give you all examinations and to keep you here overnight. It doesn't matter if you don't think you need an exam or not. You're getting one." Kerry didn't have the energy to argue with that. "Well, do you want your own rooms or not?" The group of doctors from Chicago looked nervously at each other. They didn't want to be separated from what could be the only friends they had left. No one wanted to be the first to admit it, though. Finally Mark said, "Uhh. their my daughters, so we'll share a room, I guess." While the hospital staff rolled Rachel's gurney in, Deb spoke up and said, "Dr.Greene, you wouldn't mind if I go with you. to help you look after Ella." The real reason was that she was scared, plain and simple. She didn't want to be alone. "Hey, uh. Dave. Wanna bunk with me for the night? Make it easier on these doctors?" Carter lied. He was just as scared as Deb was. He didn't care if it was Dave that he was sharing a room with. Dave wasn't Dr.Dave any more. He was a friend. "Sure," Dave said, trying to sound passive, "Chief?" "Uhh. Yeah, all right," Kerry said, also trying to sound passive. She, too, didn't care that she was rooming with Dave for the night. It didn't matter. They had been through a lot together, and they were both scared. Everyone went into their assigned rooms, and chose a bed. "Dr. Greene," Deb asked, " What bed do you want?" Mark just sat on the closest bed to the door. "Okay," Deb said, "I'll take this one." She sat down. Four nurses came in, and began attending to their patients; two to Rachel, one to Deb, and one to Mark. The nurse laid a hospital gown down on Deb's bed, "Do you need any thing?" she asked. Deb looked down at Ella, and said, "A crib or an incubator for the baby." Suddenly, she realized how thirsty she was, so she added, "and some cups and a pitcher of water would be nice." "Right," the nurse said, "I need you to change into the hospital gown for me." Deb looked down at it hesitantly and asked, "Do I really need too?" "You're covered in blood," the nurse pointed out. Deb hadn't noticed this, and when she looked down at herself, she discovered that she did have some blood on her, some fresh, and some dried, "Fine," she answered. The nurse drew the curtain around Deb's bed and left. Deb laid Ella down carefully on the bed, and drew up the guard rail. She took of her once-white lab coat, and pealed of her blood stained t- shirt. She picked up the hospital gown, and was relieved to find that it had a back to it. Deb slipped it on over her head, and found that it was a bit big, and went past her knees. She pulled off her pants, and folded them and lay them on the bed. Deb took down the guard rail, and sat down. She leaned over and picked Ella up "Shh.. Honey," Deb said, even though Ella appeared to be quite fine. Deb began to hum a nameless tune to the baby.  
  
****************************  
  
"No. I'm not putting that on," Dave said adamantly. "Sir," the nurse said, with a hint of desperation in her voice, "I need you to put on this hospital gown." "No frickin' way," Dave said. It didn't matter what he had been through that day. He wouldn't compromise his personal dignity, "Don't you have some scurbs I can put on?" The nurse sighed and said, "I'll see what I can do." Satisfied, Dave sat down on the bed. Across the room, Carter silently put on the hospital gown. If he had had the energy, he would have argued with the nurse about putting it on. Long ago, Carter had trained himself to block certain thoughts from his head, and he employed that talent now. Kerry had already put the hospital gown on, and a doctor was now taking a history. "How did you get that leg injury?" the woman asked. Kerry sighed, and said, "I was born with it. The leg didn't develop as well as the other one during pregnancy," Kerry continued, "No, I'm not currently on any drugs, don't think I've had any symptoms of sickness, and haven't had intercourse recently. I'm forty-two years old, and have a history of low blood pressure. Any other questions?" The doctor was a bit taken back, but was scribbling on the chart, "No," she said, "None at the moment." After a few moments, she said, "I need to give you an exam." *********** "No, she's not allergic to any drugs," Mark answered, "At least not to my knowledge." "Okay thank you," the doctor said, and he wandered back over to Rachel's bedside. Mark stared at Rachel's monitor. It was slow and rhythmic. He looked at her IV. She had what looked like morphine on a slow drip. Mark looked away. He could hear Ella whimpering on the other side of the room. He was glad that Deb was taking care of her. He was drained of all his energy, and couldn't deal with a crying baby. "Elizabeth," He thought, "Where the hell are you? Where are you? Are you okay? Are you alive? I love you. I miss you. I need you now. I can't get through this, Elizabeth. I can't. I'm so sorry. I never meant for this to happen. I'm so sorry." ************ Carter braced himself for the pinprick. "There we go," said the nurse, "All done," as if Carter was a six- year-old. Carter looked at the bag of morphine. He had protested against the drug, but the nurse finally convinced him to take it. Carter hadn't had the energy to protest more than once. "The doctor with suture that cut for you," the nurse referred to the cut on Carter's forehead, "And we'll splint that finger for you. It's not a bad fracture. Coulda been worse." "Yeah," Carter said irritably, "I could have had a bullet lodged in my brain." The nurse said, "I'm sorry sir," and walked away. Carter was sorry he was rude to the nurse. He knew what she had to go through each day, and that her job wasn't easy. He didn't intend on apologizing, though. 


	10. Rampage Part Ten

It was almost eleven PM. Rachel was still knocked out, and Ella had long since fallen asleep. She was the only one. Deb tossed and turned on the gurney next to the crib. She was careful with the IV wires she had that were dripping fluids into her veins to re- hydrate her. Deb looked at Ella, feeling a bit shameful. Ella had been an angel when the doctors had started her on a low dosage of painkillers. Deb had been very squeamish, and jumped when she felt the pinprick. Across the room, behind a closed curtain, Mark was staring at the ceiling, trying to establish some sort of mental connection with Elizabeth, "Elizabeth. can you hear me? I love you, and I'm so sorry that this happened," he whispered, "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for this happen. It should have been me, not you. Don't go on me. I love you." Mark finally knew how Elizabeth felt when he had the brain tumor, and he was sorry that he had been so negative about the whole thing, "It must have been so hard for you," he thought. Kerry was sitting up on her gurney, thinking, "What could bring someone to want to kill a little baby, and innocent people? Why?" Kerry had never been religious, but she couldn't help thinking, "Where was God today? Did he just not care?" A few tears slipped out of the corner of Kerry's eye, "I haven't cried since. I can't remember." Kerry got up from bed, and picked up her IV bag, and walked behind her gurney. She started to push, limping awkwardly, since she didn't have her cane. It was somewhere in the hospital lounge, back in Chicago. Kerry pushed the gurney out the door, and into the next room. Mark heard her come in, and assumed that it was a doctor. At this point, he didn't care who it was. Deb, on the other hand, was curious. She leaned over and pushed the curtain back. She was surprised to see Kerry. "Dr.Weaver?" "Deb," Kerry responded, "I couldn't sleep. I wanted to talk, but." "I understand." Deb got up, and helped Kerry move the rolling bed. She moved Ella's crib out of the way, to the head of her own gurney. She didn't want Ella too far away. Kerry and Deb set up the gurney a few feet away from Deb's. Kerry hung her IV on Deb's pole, and got in bed, as did Deb. Kerry looked over at Rachel and asked, "How she been doing?" "Getting better," Deb said. The women were silent for a moment, and then Deb continued, with a low voice, so Mark wouldn't hear "It's horrible. I mean I was thinking, he wanted to kill her. He wanted to kill that whole family." "I was thinking the same thing," Kerry said, "It's strange. I don't see how it's possible that someone could get to that point." The women stopped talking, because they heard an IV beeping, needing a replacement. Deb sighed, and said, "Rachel's, I think." After a few minutes, no one had come to replace it. Deb and Kerry heard a rustling on the other side of the room, coming from Mark. He entered their line of sight. Mark checked the IV bag, and walked out for a few minutes, while Rachel's IV continued to beep. "He's going to get a doctor or nurse," Deb observed, "I guess." "Yeah," Kerry said, awkwardly. Deb was proven wrong though, when Mark returned alone. He went back over to Rachel, and proceeded to change the IV Deb and Kerry exchanged glances, and got up. "Mark?" Kerry called out, "What are you doing?" She could see a silent tear sliding down Mark's face. Mark didn't look at her, but said, "What does it look like?" Deb started, "Dr.Greene-" "Mark," He corrected, "We've been through a lot." Deb hesitated for a moment, and then said, slowly at first, "Mark, the nurses are supposed to do that." "Well they didn't" Kerry cut in, just as Deb was going to respond, "You could have gotten someone." Mark finished replacing the IV, and said, "Kerry, we both know that I know how to do this." "Yeah, but." Kerry trailed off. She decided not to pursue it any more. The three stood around Rachel's gurney for a while, and then Mark said, "I heard you guys talking." In the low light coming from the door, Deb turned pale, "Dr. Greene-" "Mark," he said. "Mark. I'm sorry. I didn't think you could hear." Kerry studied Mark. He said, "It's okay. I was thinking the same thing. I just didn't say anything." Just then, two figures appeared in the doorway, silhouetted. "Hey," One said, "We heard you guys talking. we were wondering if we could stay in here." Dave trailed off, and looked to Carter. Carter didn't say any thing, though. Deb spoke up and asked, "Is everyone as scared as I am?" Slowly, everyone nodded. Kerry whispered, "I don't want to be alone. I don't want to leave you guys." "What about-" Dave started to ask. Kerry said, seriously, "Yes, even you Malucci. You know I can't hate you after all of this." Dave looked sheepish and said, "I thought we could all do with a little humor right about now." Carter was holding his IV and said, "You want humor, just look at us. We're the doctors. Maybe all the surviving doctors from County, and we now are all the patients. It sucks doesn't it?" "Yeah," Kerry said. "Well, if you're gonna stay in here, go get your beds and IV poles. I doubt that you wanna sleep on the floor." "I don't wanna sleep." Dave admitted. His comment was followed by a chorus of "Me too's" and "Neither do I's" Dave and Carter left, and a minute later, arrived, pushing and pulling gurneys and IV poles. Mark and Deb got up to help. They pulled Mark's bed over from the other side of the room, and set all the beds up in a small circle, with Ella in the middle. "I bet the news had a field day with all of this," Mark said Although everyone had been thinking the same thing, they were all a little surprised to hear the comment come from Mark. "Yeah," they all agreed. Deb sighed, and said, "I wonder who else." she trailed off. ".got out alive?" Carter finished for her. He kept going, "I guess you all feel what I felt when I got stabbed." At that remark, Deb almost fell out of bed, and Mark, Kerry, and Dave sat up. Carter continued, "I mean. probably not exactly. I mean, it hurt a lot more, but this is about how I felt." Everyone was silent. They didn't know how to respond. In the silence, they all heard a voice coming from Rachel's end of the room, "Dad? Ella? Where are you? Where's my dad and sister? Where's that Asian woman; the doctor?" Mark immediately got up, and almost forgot his IV. He only remembered it when he felt a sharp tug in his wrist. He scooped it up, and ran over to Rachel's side, "Rachel, you're okay. I'm fine, I'm okay." Rachel tried to get up as she said, "Dad? You're okay. What about Ella? Is she okay?" Mark nodded as he said, "Yes. She's fine; asleep right now." Rachel nodded in acknowledgement, and asked, "What about the other doctors? And the Asian doctor? Is she okay?" Deb arrived at Rachel's bedside, and managing a smile, said, "I'm okay. Everyone made it out of the lounge alive. They're all here with us, if you want to make sure." Rachel let out a sigh, and said, "My arm hurts. Did they get out the." She paused, "The bullet?" Mark was a bit taken back by how calm Rachel was, and all he could do was nod. Deb asked, "How's your head?" Rachel joked, "It's gonna hurt when they take me off all the drugs, I bet." "Go back to sleep, honey," Mark said. "I can't." "Well, try. Okay?" he asked. Rachel shook her head slightly, and said, honestly, "Dad. I'm scared." "There's no reason to, Rachel," Mark lied, "We're in Indiana. He can't hurt us." Rachel looked surprised by the mention of Indiana, but didn't say any thing about it. She said, "I know, I guess, but I'm scared. I guess it's kind of stupid, though. You said yourself that we're all safe." "No," Mark said. He regretted saying that there was no reason to be afraid, "It's okay. I'm scared too. I said that you didn't need to be afraid, so that you wouldn't be. I hate it when you're afraid." Rachel asked, "Honest?" Mark nodded and Deb threw in, "Rachel, we're all afraid. It's okay." "Thanks. by the way," Rachel asked Deb, "What IS your name?" Deb laughed, and said, "It's Deb. Come on, we'll move you over with us. We're all here," then she added, "and all afraid." 


	11. Rampage Part Eleven

Deb and Mark rolled Rachel over to the small circle of beds, and rearranged them so that she could be included. "Dad?" Rachel asked, "I want to be by you and.Deb." Deb and Mark put Rachel between their beds. After everyone was settled and in bed, Dave said, "It's weird. I never imagined myself having a slumber party this late in life." "Me neither," Kerry responded. Dave was waiting for a sarcastic comment from someone, but none came.  
  
There was an awkward silence that followed. Finally Dave said, "Dr.Finch went down." "What?" Kerry was confused. Then when she had registered what he had said, she whispered, "Oh." Then Deb put in, "I saw Frank get shot- in the leg, I think." Kerry cracked, "Oh God. Imagine him right now. He's probably calling the cops on anyone that comes within fifty feet of him." That got a few chuckles. Everyone was staring at the ceiling, or towards the crib in the middle. They heard a rustling coming from Rachel. "Rachel, honey, what are you doing?" Mark asked, lifting his head. Rachel was struggling to sit up, "Trying to see Ella." Rachel's breathing was labored, and she winced in pain when she put weight on her right arm. Carter got up, and walked across the circle, "Here you go," He helped Rachel sit up. Rachel looked over and saw Ella sleeping peacefully in the crib. She gazed at her baby sister for a few moments, and then fell back into her pillow. Carter went and got back in bed, having been satisfied that Rachel wouldn't hurt herself by being concerned for her sister. "Damn wires!" "Dave!" Came a few reprimands for his swearing in front of Rachel. Rachel spoke up and said, "It's not like I've never heard the word 'damn' before. Kids at my school have been saying it since I was in second grade." Mark chuckled a bit at Rachel's frankness, and everyone else glanced at him, surprised. Of course, none of them had raised any children, so they didn't know how a parent would feel about someone swearing in front of their child. "Dad?" Rachel asked, after a few minutes, "Did you call mom?" "No. I forgot, I guess. I'm sorry." "It's okay. I'm glad you didn't. How long are we stuck here for?" Kerry piped up and answered, "Tomorrow morning," and then, looking at her watch, corrected herself, "Today, I mean." "What time is it?" Deb asked. "Twelve forty five." Carter asked, "Did that policeman ever mention where we're going tomorrow?" "Yeah," Kerry answered, "Back to Chicago; Northwestern or Mercy, probably." Deb moaned, "I don't want to go back." "Why?" Dave asked "Because then we'll have to find out who." Deb didn't need to finish the sentence. Suddenly, no one else wanted to go back to Chicago. There was silence for a while and then Carter said, "I wonder where everyone else is." No one answered though, because they were all asleep. Carter sighed, and turned over to sleep. **************** Everyone's sleep was restless. Every now and then, someone would wake up in a cold sweat, breathing hard, from a nightmare. Then they would lay down, and go back to sleep, expecting another nightmare. Out in the hall, a nurse went into what was supposed to be Dave, Kerry and Carter's room. "What the-" The nurse said under her breath when she found all the beds were gone. She ran back into the hall and said, "The doctors are gone! They aren't there. Even the beds are gone!" A doctor looked up and said, "I'm still here." "No, not you!" The nurse said, frustrated, "The doctors from Chicago." "What!?" said a few people. There was a mad dash for the rooms. They came to the room that was empty, first. "Where are they?" Some people asked. The logical answer occurred to only one person. A young medical student went to the next room to find all of the doctors sleeping. She went out, and said, "I found them. They're all next door. Be quiet, though, they're sleeping." There was some murmuring among everyone as they walked next door. They looked in on their patients. "It's so sad," Someone commented. Everyone nodded in agreement. Their hearts ached for the doctors who had been through hell on earth. A few tears fell as the group of native doctors and nurses left the room. ********************* Carter sat up, as did everyone else. They had all woken up because Ella was crying. Rachel was carefully walking towards the crib, and every few steps, lost her balance. "Rachel!" Mark said, "What are you doing?" Rachel answered, while still walking, "Getting Ella." "You should stay in bed!" Mark reprimanded. "Yeah, I should," Rachel agreed, "So what?" She had gotten to the crib, and was trying to pick Ella up with one hand. Mark jumped out of bed, this time remembering to grab his IV bag, "Rachel!" he caught her as she lost her balance. Mark reached down and scooped Ella up into his arms, "Here, go back to bed, and I'll put Ella with you." Mark tried to help Rachel back to her bed, but she jerked herself away from him, and said, "I can walk, thanks, I'm not paralyzed." Mark commented, "You will be if you aren't careful," Mark's feet chose that exact moment to trip him up. "Yeah, right," Rachel said dryly, as she climbed into bed. Mark set Ella down with her weight on Rachel's good arm, and went back to bed. He didn't say another word. Everyone else laid back down, and drifted off further into sleep as Ella stopped crying. *************** Kerry's eyes fluttered open. The room was bright. "Must be morning," she thought. After laying in bed, Kerry got up and went into the hall, and found the bathroom. She got dressed, and splashed some water on her face. When she walked out, back into the hall, Mark was walking out from the men's room. His face was slightly damp. "Should we wake them up?" Kerry asked, "It's almost eleven thirty- time for lunch." Mark answered, "The detective said they'd be back today, so I guess we should. You wake Dave up." "No," Kerry said flatly. "Why not?" Mark chuckled, "You've done it plenty before." Mark gently shook Carter awake. "Wha.?" Carter squinted. When he saw Mark standing over him, he said, "Go away. Do you have any idea of what time it is? You don't wake people up at this hour." "Carter! I had no idea you were accustomed to sleeping until noon." Carter shut his eyes again, and asked, "It's noon already?" Mark nodded and said, "Just about. Get up. We're going home today, remember?" Carter sighed, and sat up. When Mark saw that Carter was definitely awake, he moved onto Deb, "Deb?" Mark asked, feeling strange using her first name, "Get up. It's almost noon." "I'm awake," Deb said, opening her eyes, "and have been for the last two hours. I've already had breakfast." She got out of bed to reveal that she was dressed in hospital scrubs, "The food here is better than the crap at County." Mark joked, "It's good everywhere except County," then he went on, "You mind waking Rachel up? I have to take care of Ella." Mark gently lifted Ella out of Rachel's arm. At that, Rachel sat up, and said, "Ella?" When she saw Mark holding her, Rachel said, "Oh." "Time to-" Mark started to say. Rachel cut him off saying, "I know, I know, time to get up." She got out of bed, and immediately put her hand to the back of her head, and sat back down. Deb sat down next to Rachel and said, "Are you okay?" Rachel nodded slightly, and said, "Yeah. My head just hurts. I'm a little dizzy too. Nothing bad. That guy really must have nailed me on the head, huh?" Deb smiled wanly, and said, "Yeah. Don't forget about your arm. You're lucky. The bullet missed your main artery and the bone. Basically all it did was embed itself in muscle." Rachel looked at Deb and said sarcastically, "I really wanted to know that." Then seriously she said, "Actually, my arm feels okay. Just feels kind of like a bad scrape or something." "Don't forget you're still on drugs," Deb reminded her. Rachel looked up at her and said, "You mean my head's gonna hurt more?" Deb nodded, and said, "I hate to tell you." On the other side of the small circle of beds, Kerry and Dave were having an argument about whether Dave would get up or not. "No," Dave said, "I'm tired, and not working. I want to sleep." Kerry said, exasperated, "Malucci! Get up! The detective could be here any time." "Wake me when he gets here, then." Dave said with his eyes closed. "Fine," Kerry said, "Then you don't get lunch until we get back to Chicago." At that, Dave got up, "Fine, I'm up. Happy, Chief?" Kerry didn't answer. Mark changed Ella's diaper. He didn't have any baby clothes for her, so he just took a pillowcase and wrapped it around Ella for the time being.  
  
"Dad?" Rachel asked, "Why are you dressing Ella up as a pillow?" "You have any better ideas?" Rachel shook her head. Soon the group was ready to go downstairs. Deb and Dave were both dressed in hospital scrubs. Everyone else was stuck in the hospital gowns. Just as they were leaving, a doctor came in, and said, "Just a minute, I need to fit you for a sling," he pointed to Rachel. "Whatever," Rachel said, "It doesn't really hurt." "Well," the doctor said, "I want you to keep this arm still for a while. It's very weak," The doctor had put the sling on Rachel's arm already. "Let me show you how to put this on-" the doctor started to say. "My dad's a doctor," Rachel said, "And any way, I already know how to do this. I've broken my arm before." The doctor smiled, and said, "Well, just as a precaution, I'd like to do this." "Look," Dave said irritably, "We are all doctors, and we all know that putting on a sling isn't rocket science. If she has any trouble with it, we'll help her." "Fine," the doctor said, "You seem to get the idea of this." He was not in the mood for arguing with Dave, who had already won all the arguments with the hospital staff. The group was about to go, when Mark remembered Rachel, "Rachel," he said, "I want you in a wheelchair." "You've got to be kidding," she responded, "I can walk. I'm fine." "Rachel," Deb said, "Your Dad's right. You do need a wheelchair." "I do not!" "Just humor us, okay?" Carter asked. "Fine. If I have to," Rachel capitulated. Kerry went into the hall and came back with a wheelchair. Dave started to help Rachel to it, but she said, "At least let me walk to the chair myself. I feel stupid enough already." "If it will make you happy," Mark offered, "You can hold Ella on the way down." "Okay," Rachel reached for Ella. Mark set Ella in Rachel's lap, and Ella seemed amused by the moving chair. She didn't seem to notice that she had a broken arm or an IV coming out of her. Ella was quite happy for the time being. As soon as they were out the door, they met up with the detective from the day before, "I was just coming to see you," he said, "Ready to go?" "We were just going to lunch," Dave said. "The helicopter needs to leave now. We're taking up the hospitals helipad." "We're ready when you are, Detective," Mark said. "Okay, then, let's go back to Chicago." The detective led the way, then he turned around, and said, "I need to talk to you four." "Which four?" Carter asked. "Everyone except Dr.Greene and his daughters." The detective pulled Deb, Dave, Carter, and Kerry off to the side, and said, "When we get back to Chicago, we need you to identify some of the bodies from the hospital. There were quite a few with hospital ID tags." 


	12. Rampage Part Twelve

The ride back to Chicago was very quiet. No one wanted to think about the horrors that would soon meet them. Sooner than any one would have liked, though, the helicopter touched down on Mercy's helipad. Everyone jumped out, and there was a wheelchair waiting for Rachel. Once inside, the nurse said, "We just need to give you all an exam-" "No," Dave said flatly, "I'm fine." "Me too," Deb pitched in. Kerry, Carter, and Mark all said, "Same here," at the same time. "Ma'am," Another nurse asked Kerry, "You need a wheelchair." Kerry sighed and said, "No I don't. I've been using a cane since I was able to walk. I don't need a wheelchair. I'll manage, thank you." "Well, I really think-" The nurse began to protest. "I don't need a wheelchair. I'm fine." The nurse persisted, "Ma'am, it appears that your leg is hurt, and that you need a wheelchair." She didn't catch the look that the detective gave her. "I do not need a wheelchair. My leg has been deformed since I was born. I know I don't need a wheelchair because I am- or was depending on the status of everything- the chief of the damn ER at County," Kerry said harshly. At that, the nurse fell silent. She led them to the elevator, and down a few floors, and got off at the pediatric floor, "Since none of you need exams, and it's apparent that the children do, it's pediatrics." No one seemed to object. Everyone trooped into a private exam room, and watched Mark, Rachel, and Ella get settled. "I need to borrow you four for a while," The detective said. He didn't have to specify what, though. Carter, Deb, Dave, and Kerry all followed him out the door. He led them to the elevator that they had just gotten off, and pressed a button. He said, "I know this will probably be hard for all of you, but we really need this done. There are quite a few people with scrubs on, or have a tag that simply states that they're from County. If you aren't up to this, you don't have to do it." If anyone didn't want to do it, no one said anything. The elevator door opened up, and everyone silently got on. There was a mother and a small little girl on the carriage already. The little girl said, "Can we go see daddy now? He said I could visit him anytime I want. I want to go, mommy, please?" "Honey," the mother said, "We can't see daddy right now. He's. he's sleeping." Deb looked at the woman, and saw that her husband wasn't simply taking a nap. He was dead. The woman met Deb's eyes for a moment, and then she looked away. The elevator opened at the ground floor, long enough for the woman and her daughter to get off. Then the elevator declined down to the basement, to the morgue. When they stepped off the elevator, everyone was immediately uncomfortable. None of them particularly liked going down to the morgue at County, let alone at another hospital that held their friends. No one said anything. The silence was unbearable to Kerry. She almost wished that Dave would make a stupid joke to break it. The detective led them all down the hall. Carter bravely kept pace with him, and Kerry behind him, determined not to show that her deformed leg was incredibly hard to walk on. Deb walked next to her, and caught her every time that she lost her balance. Dave lagged behind. "Ready?" The detective asked. When he received no answer, he opened the door. The morgue was dreadfully peaceful. There was one doctor in the large room filled with gurneys that had dead bodies on top of them. The detective proceeded to the nearest table. No one was sure if the should, or wanted to follow him. Kerry finally took the leave, and everyone else followed. They all gathered around the gurney and watched as the detective pulled back the white sheet. Deb let out a sigh of relief, but felt bad for doing so. Even though she didn't know the man laying on the table, he was still dead. "Know him?" Everyone shook their heads. They had hardly seen him around the ER. Dave spoke up and said, "I think he was an x-ray technician, but I'm not sure." "Okay," the detective made a note on his legal pad. He moved onto the next table, and this time, everyone followed. He pulled back the table, and when the face of the person appeared, Kerry drew in a breath, and Dave said, "Damn him. God damn him." "Her name's Abby Lockhart." Carter said, blinking back tears. "I'm sorry, man," Dave said to Carter. "I didn't exactly love her," Carter thought, "but she was my best friend, though. How could this happen? She was wonderful. She cared. and now she's dead." The detective wrote Abby's name on his pad of paper, and everyone tried not to cry, but Deb couldn't help it. She cried easily. "I will not cry," Kerry thought, "Not now. Not ever. I'm going to get through this, but I don't have to cry," she furiously blinked back tears. "You all knew her?" The detective asked. Everyone nodded solemnly. The detective asked cautiously, "Can you go on, or do you need to stop?" "No," Deb said, running her hand across her cheek, brushing away her tears, "Go on." Everyone nodded in agreement. They all moved onto the next bed. This time, Carter took the initiative, and pulled back the sheet. "Oh, God." Kerry whispered. "He's so pale. it couldn't be him. it can't," Carter thought. The detective held off for as long as he could stand, and then asked, "What's his name?" No one felt that they had the right to say his first name, since he had been Dave and Deb's superior, and Carter hadn't known him very well. Only Kerry felt relatively fine saying, "Luka Kovac. L-u-k-a K-o-v-a-c. He's from Croatia. I don't think he has any family left." The detective nodded in acknowledgement, and kept on writing. Everyone stared at Luka. It was hard to think that he was the last of his family. and now the whole family was dead. The detective gave the doctors a few minutes to be with Luka, and then he moved on. He carefully pulled down a sheet. Carter was speechless. Kerry cursed Fossen for killing him. "Holy shit!" Dave exclaimed, and Deb's jaw dropped. "Romano?" Carter finally asked for confirmation. "I never thought I'd see the day." Kerry trailed off. Deb turned to the detective and said, "He is Doctor Robert Romano." Everyone just stared at Romano's dead body, as the detective wrote notes. No one thought it possible that Romano could die. It was hard enough to insult him and make him feel it. No one thought that he could be killed.  
  
The group suddenly felt uncomfortable, and quickly moved on. Bed after bed. Some gurneys held people they only knew the names of and nothing more. Others held complete strangers in scrubs. Still others held great friends. After almost an hour of identifying bodies, the group was done. Outside the morgue, the detective read down the list of names he had collected: Abby Lockhart Luka Kovac Robert Romano Lisa Robins Louisa Maria Rodriguez Cleo Finch Halea Adams Alicia Johansan Yosh Takata Randi Farrinelli Andrew Tuckman Kim Legaspi William Hutchinson Linda Hoyle Salvador Sancho Cleo Finch 


	13. Rampage Part Thirteen

"Do you have a patient named Elizabeth Corday?" Mark asked the nurse. The nurse hesitated, and then said, "What's your relationship with her?" "I'm her husband." Mark answered shortly. The nurse looked at the detective and he nodded. Mark asked, hesitantly, "What's her condition?" The nurse said, "Let me go find her chart, and I'll be right back, okay?" Mark didn't answer, because the nurse had already left. "When can I go home?" Mark heard Rachel asking a nurse. The nurse smiled, and said, "I don't know. You'll have to ask the doctor about that." Rachel sighed, and asked, politely, "Could I talk to him, then? Whenever he's available is fine." So far, Mark had had little to no involvement with his daughter's medical treatment, because she had been making all the correct choices herself. He simply signed the parental consent forms. "Rachel," Mark said, "You know we do need to call your mother eventually. When do you want to, or should I call?" Rachel sighed. She hadn't been looking forward to this conversation, "I really wish we didn't have to call her. She's just going to blow up at you. and I really don't want to go home. I want to stay in Chicago. Mom's been driving me crazy for the past few months. Any way, I never see her much, except for around eleven, when she gets home, and I'm on my way to bed. She's at work before I wake up, and Craig, well, I just don't like him." "Honey, you need to give Craig a chance." Rachel exclaimed, "Dad! He's been my step dad for six whole years. He's been given plenty of chances. I don't like him, and anyway he doesn't like me, either." Mark asked, "He does like you Rachel." "No he doesn't," Rachel said, "He told me he didn't like me. He's told me plenty of times to go to hell." Mark stopped short, "He told you those things?" Rachel nodded, "It doesn't bother me much, just pisses me off." "What else has he said to you, Rachel?" Mark probed. "Umm. nothing that I can remember." Rachel said. Mark could tell she was lying. He looked at her skeptically, with a hint of concern. Rachel saw that her father didn't believe her so she said, "He said. he said that he'd kill me if I ever did anything to Amanda. If you don't remember her, Amanda's his daughter. He only said that once though, after we got into a big fight." "Rachel," Mark said, feeling his anger rise because of Craig's words, "It doesn't matter that you and Amanda had an argument. Craig can't say that to you. I don't want you going back to St. Louis if he's there. You're not going," Mark declared. Rachel didn't say anything. "Dr.Greene?" The nurse stepped in, "I have your wife's chart. You can go see her, if you'd like." Mark looked at Rachel, and she nodded her approval. "Yes," Mark responded, "I'd like to see her. She's in the ICU?" The nurse nodded, as she led Mark out the door. As she walked, she said, "She came out of her coma about an hour ago. She's been asking for you and your daughter constantly." Mark smiled at this news. He picked up the speed, and the nurse almost had to run to keep up with him. As they were waiting for the elevator, Mark asked, "What about her condition? Is she stable?" The nurse nodded, "She'll need to stay for about a week for observation, and heavy pain medication. She'll be fine though. She's going to need to rest for a long-" Mark cut the nurse off impatiently, and rudely, saying, "I know, she knows. We're both doctors." Mark got onto the elevator, and started pounding the 'door close' button repeatedly. Of course, like most 'door close' buttons, it didn't work. Mark and the nurse waited on the elevator in silence. As soon as the elevator got to the floor of the ICU, Mark saw it. He ran straight in the doors, and started looking for Elizabeth. Mark's search was in vain, because he couldn't find her without the nurse. Finally, he turned back to find her. As soon as he did, he demanded, "Where is she?" The nurse sighed at Mark's impatience, and said, "Room 403." Mark bolted back into the ICU, looking for Elizabeth's room. When he got there, he found a police guard, "Sir, I can't allow you to go in this room." "I'm her husband!" Mark explained. "Then I need to see some ID." Mark looked around the guard, and saw Elizabeth. She saw him too. She smiled wanly and said as loudly as she could, "Let him in. He really is my husband." The guard stepped aside, and Mark ran to Elizabeth's bedside, "Oh, God Elizabeth. I was so scared." The couple embraced, both of them smiling through heavy tears. They stayed like that for a few minutes, until Elizabeth pulled away. "Ella. Is Ella all right? I was holding her when he came in, and-" "She's fine, Elizabeth," Mark reassured, "Just a broken arm. She's fine. So is Rachel." Elizabeth looked confused, "Rachel? What about her?" Mark realized Rachel had gotten to Chicago hours after Elizabeth had been shot, "She came out to be here. For you, for me, for Ella." Elizabeth smiled and said, "That was nice of her. But, what do you mean she was all right? She was at the hospital, I assume, right?" She realized a possibility of what could have happened after Fossen left her bleeding on the nursery floor, "He didn't, did he? He didn't go to the hospital and-" "Elizabeth, don't think about it. Not now. You've been through a lot." Mark was almost begging her. "Well, from what you've told me, so have you." Elizabeth shot back, "Tell me what happened." "Elizabeth-" Mark tried to convince her once more. Elizabeth held firm, "No. Tell me what happened. Everything; every last detail. We're going to have to do this, Mark. It's the only way we'll get through this, if we talk about it." Mark knew his wife was right, and he relented, "Well, you and Ella came into the ER. Uhh. you went up to surgery and-" Elizabeth interrupted him, "Who did the surgery?" "Romano and Benton." Mark looked at her to see a response, but found nothing tell-tale on her face. So, he continued, "I sat in exam two with Ella. Malucci, and Drs. Finch and Kovac stuck around for a while. I called Jen, and somehow Malucci talked her into putting Rachel on a plane to here. She came to the hospital after she got of the plane." Mark stopped. It was getting to the more traumatic part of the story. He wasn't sure is he should go on, or just lie and say that what he had said was all that had happened. "Mark, go on," Elizabeth said gently. She knew it was getting hard for him. Mark looked at her for a second, still debating. He decided to go on, "Umm. the man came to the hospital, shot the whole place up. Rachel, Ella and I were in the lounge with Kerry, Malucci, Deb, and Carter. We must have been there for an hour, listening to gunshots, screams, and, shouts. We just listened from behind the couches. Then, he. he came into the lounge," Mark said the last sentence quickly. Elizabeth drew in a breath and waited for her husband to go on. She didn't push him, she just waited. After a few minutes, Mark went on, "He found Kerry, Malucci, Carter, and I first. Ella, Deb, and Rachel were in the corner, behind the other couch. Malucci set that up. Any way. I guess he was about to shoot my head off, when Ella started crying." Elizabeth felt sick to her stomach. She didn't want Mark to go on, but she had to know what had happened, how her family had lived, how they had feared. "Then he found them," Mark said, referring to Ella, Deb and Rachel, "He made Deb leave. That left Rachel holding Ella in her arms, on her own. He wanted Ella. He wanted her, and wanted to kill her," Mark was crying, as was Elizabeth. He talked through his tears, while she listened through hers, "Rachel wouldn't give Ella to him, even when he pointed the gun at her. She put Ella behind her after he had physically tried to take Ella. Then he shot Rachel in the arm." Mark had to stop. He could hardly breath because he was crying so much. Elizabeth was in tears, but she took Mark into her arms, and let him cry until he had calmed down. After a few minutes Mark continued, "I can't remember exactly what happened, but some SWAT guy walked in on us, and the man took Rachel hostage, I guess.Rachel did something to piss him off, and he hit her on the head, and she passed out. I got up and tackled him, and Carter and Malucci joined me. The police came in, and pulled us apart, and put Ella, Rachel, Deb, Malucci, Carter, Kerry, and I on a helicopter to some hospital in Indiana. Uhh. Rachel was still out, and was put on a slow drip of morphine. Ella got some painkillers via IV too. The rest of us were dehydrated and were hurting a bit too. Rachel woke up, and the next morning we were back on the helicopter to here. We just got here about a half hour ago." Elizabeth didn't say anything at first. Then she asked, "Mark, who was that man, and why did he want to hurt your family?" 


	14. Rampage Part Fourteen

"Elizabeth," Mark asked, "Are you doing all right?" She nodded, "When can I get out of here?" Mark sighed, "Nurse said about a week. Ella should be discharged in a day or two, and Rachel will get out, from what I saw, in about three or four days." At the mention of Rachel, Elizabeth asked, "Why did she come, Mark? She doesn't know me. She probably doesn't even like me." "Well, she does like you. You remind her of what Jenn used to be- a mother. Jenn hasn't been around for Rachel for the last six or seven years." Elizabeth took all this in, then said, "She put herself before Ella, Mark. She saved our baby. she got shot for Ella. she almost got killed." Mark nodded, and simply said, "I know." "Mark," Elizabeth said, "You need to be with Rachel. She's got to be scared half to death." Mark responded, "She's fine. really. She's been handling everything very well, considering the circumstances." Elizabeth didn't believe him for a second, "Mark. she needs you. Ella is young enough, that she doesn't know what happened. Rachel knows very well. She had a gun pointed at her." Mark nodded, realizing that Elizabeth was right, "All right. I love you, Elizabeth. I'll be back. I promise." Elizabeth smiled back and said, "I know you will. I love you too. Give my love Ella and Rachel." "I will. I'll be back." Mark said again. "Mark, I know. Go." Elizabeth told him. Mark walked out the door, and back down to Rachel. When he got down to her room, he found Kerry, Deb, Malucci, Carter and another doctor in Rachel's room. Deb and Carter looked as if they were going to be sick. Kerry was deathly pale, and Malucci, for once, was being quiet. Rachel was talking to the other doctor, "So. what you're saying is that the bullet didn't do any bad damage, right?" The doctor nodded, and said, "It's going to hurt a lot for a few weeks, but pain killers can dull the pain. Your arm needs to be immobilized for a day or two, just to make sure it's all right. After that, your arm will be much weaker than it was before. It will be a chore just to write your name." Rachel nodded, "So, when can I leave?" The doctor laughed a bit and said, "For the next few days, you're going to be on heavy pain killers. You'll need to stick around for a week or so." Rachel sighed. Then she said, "What about my sister? When does she leave?" The doctor looked at Ella, and turned back to Rachel, "Probably two or three days. Four at most." "Great." Rachel said sarcastically. Then she saw Mark standing in the doorway, "Dad, why aren't you with Elizabeth? She needs you." Mark smiled as best he could, and said, "I figured you needed me down here." "Not to make you feel under appreciated or anything," Rachel said, in a firm voice, "but Elizabeth needs you more than I do. You should be with her. She's been through a lot." "I know but-" Mark started. Rachel cut him off, saying, "No buts. She needs you. Go." Mark was completely dumbfounded. He left. Rachel's doctor followed him, "Umm. Mr.Greene?" Mark turned around, and said, "It's Doctor Greene, actually, but yes?" "I need to run this consent form by you." The doctor handed Mark a clipboard. Mark looked through the forms quickly, and then scribbled his signature. When he was done, he said, "Look, I have a wife in the ICU, and two daughters down here. Would it be possible to get them a room together, or closer together?" The doctor said, "That isn't possible, if your wife is in the ICU." Mark was exhausted. He responded shortly, "It should be. At county, they try to keep families close to each other." "Sir, this is not county general." the doctor said, impatiently. "You know what?" Mark asked, "I will sign both my daughters out AMA, my wife will sign herself out, and we will all go to County General and check in there," he said without thinking. The doctor was a bit taken back, "Look, I don't know what to tell you. All I can say is that I'll see what I can do." "Thank you, so much." Mark said sarcastically. Mark walked back into Rachel's room, only to be told, "Go see Elizabeth," by Rachel. Finally, Mark decided to find a payphone. He dialed Rachel's house in St.Louis. "Hello?" He heard Jenn's tired voice on the other end. "Jenn?" He asked, "It's Mark." She was slightly confused for a moment, and the said, "Oh, Mark. How's Rachel?" Mark bit his lip, and answered after a moment, "That's what I was calling about. She got hurt." He heard Jenn hesitate for a second, and then ask cautiously, "How badly? What kind of hurt?" "She's fine, now. She'll be out of the hospital in a few days." "Hospital?" Jenn asked, like she had been expecting something like this to happen. She then explained, "She didn't. get shot did she? I saw what happened on the news. I'm watching now." She started getting more worried by the second, "That man didn't. she wasn't one of the hostages he took, was she? Were you? What happened?" Jenn would have kept going, if Mark hadn't intervened, "Jenn! Listen to me. Yes, she got shot." He heard Jenn draw in a breathe. Then he added, "In the arm. She's fine. It was a shallow wound. She was lucky." He went on to Jenn's next question, "We were both in the lounge with that. man. for an hour or two. Maybe three." "Oh God." Jenn whispered. Mark was afraid she would get hysterical, "You said she's okay? Is she awake? What else happened?" "She's fine. Also awake. She got hit on the head. with a gun. but she's absolutely fine. The only long term affect will be that her arm will be weak for a while." Jenn didn't say anything for a second. "Jenn?" Mark asked, "You there?" He knew she was. "When is she coming home?" She asked. Mark hesitated for a moment, then said, "I also wanted to talk to you about that." Before he could say any thing else though, Jenn said, "She told you about Craig, didn't she?" Mark was a little surprised, but answered, "Yeah, she did. I don't want her going home to that." "Don't blame you." Jenn said, "I love her, but I love him too. I just didn't know what to do." "You knew?" Mark asked. Jenn started crying a little, "Yeah, I knew. I just didn't know what to do. I didn't want to send Rachel back to you. I didn't know whether you could take her or not. She seemed to handle everything all right. Craig loves me, and I love him, but I love Rachel too." "Jenn," Mark said, exasperated, "You could have called me. Rachel was being verbally abused. I love her, and would have taken her." He paused, listening to Jenn on the other end, "Jenn. if Craig loved you, he would love Rachel too." "He does!" Jenn cried out, "He just has trouble showing her. He shows me very well. He's never done anything to me. but to Rachel. He doesn't know how to deal with her." Mark asked, "Are we agreed? Rachel starts living with me?" "Yeah." Jenn said quietly, "I'll call and do the switch of custody." There was an awkward moment between Mark and Jenn. Jenn knew what Mark was going to say, "Jenn, he doesn't love you. If he did, he would respect Rachel." "I know, Mark. But, I'm happy. It doesn't matter that he doesn't love me the way I love him. I'm happy with him." "Are you sure?" Mark asked. Out of the corner of his eye, Mark saw the doctor coming towards him, "Look, Jenn, I have to go. I'll call you later so we can work all this out, okay?" "Okay, bye Mark." "Bye." Mark hung up and turned to the doctor. "Dr. Greene, I've gotten the approval to move your daughters and your wife to a private room in the ICU. You understand of course, that if we run out of room in the ICU, that your daughters will have to leave?" Mark nodded, and said, "Thank you." 


	15. Rampage Part Fifteen

"Where am I going?" Rachel asked, "Is my sister going with me? I'm not leaving my sister." The transport attendant smiled at her and said, "Your sister is going with you. Don't worry." At that, Rachel settled down into the moving bed. Mark lingered behind his daughters, walking slowly, along with Carter, Deb, Kerry, and Malucci. He knew something was terribly wrong. He knew they had all been through a lot, but they seemed to be taking it harder now. Deb had gotten sick, and Kerry was having more trouble walking than usual. Something had happened when they had gone off with the investigator, Mark just didn't know what. Carter was back, helping Kerry, who still didn't have a crutch, and was still refusing a wheelchair. Until today, she hadn't realized how much she depended on that crutch. Malucci was just barely managing to keep his composure. He wanted to yell and scream. He wanted to hurt the one responsible for his friends' deaths. He wanted to kill the man who had done it. Dave wanted revenge. "Dammit, guys. Something's wrong with you. What is it?" Mark asked. He couldn't take the awkwardness between them all any more. They all ignored him. His words stung, even though they were not intended to be hurtful. They couldn't tell him. They couldn't. Mark gave them a moment to answer, but when none came, he turned around and cut off their path, "What happened when you were with the policeman? What? You go off, and your absolutely fine, considering what's happened in the past forty-eight hours, and then when you come back, you look like you went through hell. What happened?" Deb, Kerry, Dave, and Carter all threw each other confused and questioning glances, none of them knowing how to respond. "Well?" Mark asked, his feet planted to the floor. He was not going to move until he got an answer. They all just stared back at him. They knew he would find out eventually. None of them wanted to be the bearer of more bad news, though. Suddenly, Deb just started crying. She made no effort to conceal her tears. She just let them flow. Through her tears she yelled, "We did go through hell. We saw our friends- dead. Twenty of them, maybe. All of them dead because of a bullet from that guy. All of them dead. We're practically the only ones that made it out of the damn ER alive. Twenty people, and that was only one hospital morgue. God knows how many others are dead. Are you happy? Are you? Is that what you wanted to hear?" Deb's words hung in the air like a dense fog that would never lift. No one said any thing. Kerry, Carter, and Dave looked away. They had seen to much death, to much sadness. No one wanted to see Mark's reaction. No one could bear it. Mark turned away from the group, and walked away, leaving them standing in the middle of the hallway. "Twenty people dead, because of me." All through this, he had been able to convince himself that none of it was his fault. Not any more. Reality had struck. Mark walked the halls for a while, sometimes crying. A few doctors and nurses noticed, but didn't stop to say a comforting word, or ask what was wrong. After a while, Mark headed up to the ICU. When he walked into Elizabeth's and his daughter's room, he found the policeman there, taking statements from Elizabeth and Rachel. Mark waited outside the door, making sure to tune out the words coming from inside the room. When the policeman came out, Mark pulled him aside, and asked, straight out, "Who died?" The policeman immediately recognized Mark, but wasn't prepared to answer the question, "Excuse me?" Mark asked, his question again, clarifying what he meant, "Who got shot in the hospital?" The policeman immediately switched modes, "I'm sorry. I can't discuss that with you." Mark retorted, "Which of my friends died? Who's deaths did I cause? Tell me. Please." At this, the policeman looked helpless. He looked like a six year old at Halloween, dressed up in a policeman's uniform. After a second, he took out the infamous list, and handed it to Mark. Mark scrutinized it. Every name brought back memories. Some he didn't know, but wished he did. With every name, the sadness deepened. When he was finished, he muttered a "thank you" and dropped the list, and walked away to recompose himself. At that moment, Mark wished he was on the roof of County, looking out over Chicago. That's where he went when he needed to think. That's where he went to talk important things over with his friends. That's where he found other people that needed a reassuring word. He would never see some of those people again. After taking a few minutes to himself, he went back to Elizabeth's, Rachel's and Ella's room. "Mark?" Elizabeth asked, leaving an unknown question hanging. Rachel and her looked up at Mark expectantly. They had heard the entire conversation Mark had had with the policeman. Mark looked up at his wife, and said, "Everything's fine." Both Elizabeth and Rachel looked at him doubtfully. Mark didn't know what to say to them, so he just took to looking at Ella, who wouldn't ask him if he was okay, or look at him sympathetically. He could feel Rachel and Elizabeth training their eyes on him questioningly, wondering what was going to happen when he broke down. *********************  
  
Kerry, Dave, Deb, and Carter spent the passing hours wandering the halls of the hospital alone. They knew Mark would be there for days, but they weren't ready to go home. Going home would mean having to prepare for funerals and more sadness. Finally they settled into the waiting room in the ER, where there was a television playing the news. The "Chicago Massacre" was still all over the local and national news. Every few minutes they would cut in and show a short segment about one of the victims. There were photos and home video clips that the families had already donated. Most of the people shown were people from around the city; one of the ER's nurses was shown, but other than that, no people from the hospital were. Kerry, Deb, Malucci, and Carter were glued to the television. They were in the heart of the situation, yet they were learning new things about it. Suddenly, a new, shocking scene aired. It was a home video camera. The background was the ER. A man behind the camera was joking about his daughter's new cast, trying to make her feel better, saying that the first broken bone needed to be documented. The little girl managed a wan smile. Everything looked so serene and calm; everything was normal. Then they heard the shot ring out. It sounded exactly like it did when it happened; a bang, then dead silence for a moment, when people were registering the sound in their minds. After another shot rang out, people were screaming. The man behind the camera grabbed his daughter, and ran down the hallway with her. You could see Kerry pushing Mark into the lounge as he ran past them. The camera stopped, and the man knelt down. The camera showed the blonde of the daughter's hair against the tiled floor. It took Kerry a second to realize what had happened; the girl had been shot. The man dragged his daughter behind the admit desk, and set the camera, still recording, on the counter. In the corner of the shot, you could see Carter and Deb diving into the lounge, and Kerry's face through the open door. People were running past, screaming, looking for a safe haven, but bullets were flying everywhere. Then he walked by; he had the gun. He pointed it at an unseen target and shot. Fossen kept walking, and the shots still rang out. In the corner of the shot, you could see someone fall. The news station had edited a large portion of the tape out, because there was a blink, and you could see Fossen entering the lounge, which contained Mark, Deb, Kerry, Carter, Dave, Rachel, and Ella. The video ended there. Kerry, Deb, Carter, and Dave sat in silence for a few seconds. Then Kerry leaned over a vomited. Deb was shaking so hard that a nurse came over to make sure she wasn't having a seizure. Carter and Dave sat in stunned silence. After the nurse had finished dealing with Kerry and Deb, they looked back up at the TV, just as the reporter was saying, "For the rest of the hospital the living hell was over, but for the seven people in the lounge, it would last for another two and a half hours." Carter and Dave exchanged glances, and then kept staring at the television. The reporter continued, "After Derek Fossen entered the lounge, he walked in on five doctors and two children. The doctors were named Mark Greene, Kerry Weaver, Jing-Mei Chen, Dave Malucci, and John Carter. The names of the fourteen year old and baby girl are not available to us, because they are minors." As their names were recited, each person shuddered. Next to them, a woman, who was also watching the television, said, "God, those poor people," she turned to Deb and said, "I hope they're okay." Deb said, "They are, don't worry." Then she returned her attention to the television. "The fourteen year old girl received a minor bullet wound and a concussion while being held hostage. After two and a half hours, the two male doctors attacked Fossen, and succeeded in subdueing him for a minute before the Chicago Police Department and SWAT Team could intervene. We've been told that the hostages have been airlifted to a hospital in Indiana for care. Neither theirs nor Derek Fossen's condition is known." Deb immediately regretted what she said to the woman who had just talked to her. The woman turned back and said, "How do you know they're okay?" Deb thought of a way out, but Kerry jumped in and said, "Faith. Just got to hope." The woman considered this for a moment, and then said, "Thank you." After she had turned away, Kerry said, under her breathe, "Faith. Yeah right." 


	16. Rampage Part Sixteen

Kerry sighed, and stood up. She was getting sick of Mercy hospital. She, Deb, Malucci, and Carter had spent three sleepless nights in the hospital waiting room. They didn't want to go home yet. That would mean they would be forced to pick out clothes for dozens of funerals. They weren't ready for that, not yet. They knew they would have to go home soon, though, because they had been told that there were going to be three funerals the next day: two nurses that Kerry hardly knew, and Abby's. Kerry shut her eyes, shutting out the memory of Abby's brother and schizophrenic mother coming in two days before, to see the body. Maggie couldn't fully comprehend the situation. Kerry was guessing that she had gone off her meds again, but that wasn't any of her business. The doctors at Mercy had tried again and again to make Maggie understand that her daughter was dead, but Maggie kept insisting that Abby would be showing up for work at any moment. She didn't even understand that Abby hadn't worked at Mercy. Abby's brother, Eric, was trying to stay calm for his mother's sake, but would leave her in a nurse's care for a few minutes and go somewhere to cry. Carter had made sure to stay away from Abby's mother, for fear that she would recognize him. He just couldn't deal with her right then... probably not ever. He had loved Abby, secretly, and her mother was just a reminder of something that he would never have. Deb went for a walk, wondering if she would be able to handle the emotional struggle that lied ahead. She knew she couldn't do it alone, but that problem could be solved later. Mercy was getting calls from Deb's worried mother almost every half- hour, now. Deb didn't want to talk to her. She couldn't take that, yet. She couldn't take her mother hovering over her. Deb just told the receptionist to tell her mother that she wasn't there, but wasn't in the morgue either. Deb knew that eventually, she'd break, and go to her mother, but she wasn't breaking yet, and for that, she was glad. Carter had seen his grandmother in the hospital waiting room, once, but had declined to talk to her. He knew what she would say. It would be the same as what she said to him when he was stabbed : "I told you that you should have gone into the family business. I told you not to be a doctor, much less an ER doctor. But, you didn't listen. Now look what's happened. That could have been you that died." Carter didn't know how to politely tell her to "Shut up about that forever." So far, Malucci hadn't received any calls, and he preferred it to be so. His mother had abused him, his father never met him, and his sister was dead. His son... God only knew where he was. He hoped his family hadn't heard about him being involved in all of this... "Second thought... they wouldn't give a damn if they did," he thought. Upstairs, Mark was holding Ella, who had been discharged the day before. Rachel would be leaving in two days, and Elizabeth in four. He hadn't left the ICU room at all, much less the hospital. Deb had been nice enough to remember to bring him something to eat when she came to visit Rachel. There was a bit of awkwardness between her and Mark, but she did her best to ignore it. The others hadn't really been upstairs at all, though. He half wished that they would. The next day, Rachel was allowed to get up and walk the halls with her IV, and she took every chance that she was allowed. While she was gone, Elizabeth asked, "Mark, I know that you know: Who didn't make it out? Who died?" Mark bit his lip for a moment, but then said, "A lot of people... I couldn't begin to tell you..." "Just name some.. any one you remember." Elizabeth said gently. Mark wanted to name Romano, first, because his name popped out at him, but he knew that would just shock Elizabeth more than it had shocked him, so he skipped that name, "Well... umm... Abby Lockhart, Cleo Finch...Halea, Randi, and Yosh... and Dr. Kovac... those are the only ones I remember." He half lied. Elizabeth nodded imperceptibly. She was trying to conjure up memories of those that Mark had named... traumas that they had worked on together came up. All she could remember of Luka was the argument they'd had over a liver transplant. Unfortunately, Cleo was only the argument they'd had when Cleo had gone behind her back to Peter. She hated that she couldn't remember any thing good about them. Elsewhere, Kerry, Dave, Kerry, Deb, and Carter were sitting inside a church, listening to a priest drone on about having faith that Abby was in a better place. They had all given up on religion long ago, and weren't about to buy into it after all they'd been through. In the front of the church, Maggie and Eric sat quietly. Tears were streaming down Maggie's face. She had finally accepted that her daughter had died. "Would any one like to say a few words about the deceased?" The priest asked. He looked expectantly and Abby's small family, but there were no vollunteers there. Finally, Carter stood up, and slowly made his way to the front of the church. "Uhh... Abby... Abby was great... I have a lot of good memories of her and I together..." He paused, not knowing where to go from there, "She was a great friend, never expecting any thing from me except friendship. She was the one who cared enough to tell someone that I had a serious drug problem... she was the one who saw it, and was willing to help me when I recovered. She gave me the time I needed, never pushing me further that I wanted to go. I wish that our relationship had had time to grow and turn into something- I think that we both wanted that. I'm sorry that it never got the chance." Everyone looked at Carter for more, but he couldn't go on. He didn't have any thing else to say. To many memories had flowed into his mind, blocking his thoughts. He remembered that charity ball he had taken Abby to... they'd ended up slitting her ex's tires Abby and him stood outside in forty degree weather, she in pink bridesmaid's gown and him in a tuxedo. They'd just let the air out of her ex's tires, and were now watching the car being towed away. Abby said, out of the blue, "Now I feel kind of bad." "Why?" Carter asked. "Because it kinda ruined our night too." Abby pointed out. Carter lied, "Ruined? How?" "Besides the vandalism?" Abby asked half-sarcastically. Carter smiled a bit, and said, "Yeah." Abby took a breath and said, "The fact that we're freezing to death. The fact that we never even saw your grandmother." She was about to go on, when Carter cut in, "Oh, she knows I was there. That's enough." "Okay, then." Abby managed a wan smile, "I guess nothing." Carter ventured, "I had an okay time." He waited tensely for Abby's answer, and was relieved when it came as, "I had an okay time too." Carter smiled on the memory. Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder. It was the priest. Carter realized he had started to cry, and was still standing in front of the whole church. Slightly embarrassed, Carter went back to his seat. "John, you okay?" Deb asked quietly. "No." "Me either." She responded. The mass ended, and the congregation filed out behind the casket. Everyone headed for the graveyard. Kerry, Dave, Carter, and Deb didn't go, because they had another funeral to go to. 


End file.
